Is self-service checkout on the way out?

I love self-service checkout, but it is again under attack. Here in Chicago, Jewel-Osco (one of the major local supermarket chains) is pulling self-service checkout lanes from some of its stores (Jewel scrapping self-checkout at some stores, Chicago Tribune, Sep 25). Their stated goal is to “reconnect personally with all of its customers.” Now the Wall […]

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Shadow work and self service

How should we think of self service? Is it good for society in any sense or is it stealthy way to increase costs for customers? An article in today’s New York Times argues for the second point (Our Unpaid, Extra Shadow Work, Oct 30). The opening paragraph sets the tone: THE other night at the […]

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In defense of self-service checkout

I have previously stated that I love self-service checkouts. It may just be that I hate making eye contact (ask anyone who has had to sit through me teaching). I consequently worry every time there is a story suggesting that supermarket chains are eliminating them. Gady had a post on this trend this summer and […]

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On Metro Lanes and Self Checkouts in Supermarkets (yet again)

The world can be broadly divided into those who love self-checkout and those who hate them. (We already discussed it here: “Love or loathe: Self-service checkout” where my colleague confessed his love to self-checkouts). I am of the (rare) indifferent type. I rarely, if ever, use them and find their main utility in taking people […]

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Self-service prescriptions?

Sure you will print out your own boarding pass and maybe you will ring up your own groceries, but would you pick up a prescription from a machine? That may be coming (Prescription medication kiosks just what the doctor ordered, Selfserviceworld.com, Dec 29): Kiosks designed to remotely dispense prescription medication are clearing the final hurdles […]

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Love or loathe: Self-service checkout

I apparently am different from many Britons.  I totally love self-service checkout systems, particularly at grocery stores.  Many Brits apparently have a different take — at least according to the BBC (The problem with self-service checkouts, Dec 9): New research suggests 48% of Britons think self-service checkouts are a nightmare, neither quick nor convenient. Quite […]

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How Home Depot tackles queues

Yesterday, we looked at how Disney was taking on lines; today, Home Depot is up. Fast Company has a brief article on what the home-improvement chain is doing to keep customers moving through its stores (Home Depot Innovates Customer Checkouts, Apr 16). The article points to four things (which are numbered on the diagram below): PLASTIC […]

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Apparently our robot overlords want the crappy retail jobs too

How’s this for an alarmist headline? Retail jobs are disappearing as shoppers adjust to self-service (LA Times Mar 3) Here’s the article’s point of a view in a nutshell: In an industry that employs nearly 1 in 10 Americans and has long been a reliable job generator, companies increasingly are looking to peddle more products […]

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Selfish self service

To launch The Operations Room, I thought I would discuss one of the more interesting articles I have seen this summer. A few weeks ago, The Economist ran an article on the rise of self-service process during the recession (“Help yourself,” Jul 2nd 2009). The punch line amounts to “never mind outsourcing services overseas, companies are outsourcing to you!” While companies may be cutting back on some spending during the current recession, it is a good time to be selling service automation systems.

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