Walmart is making a major change to its checkout process — and shoppers will love it
Technological advancements in the retail industry are inevitable, but sometimes customers prefer the old ways more. That is what Walmart realized as several of its customers spoke out against a practice that they had been making use of for some time now. While some have commended it, the majority aren't huge fans. Therefore, the retailer is taking feedback seriously and making changes at specific outlets based on that feedback.
The practice in question is the use of self-service checkout machines. These machines were introduced during the pandemic for social distancing purposes, and everyone was on board back then. However, COVID has been gone for a long time, but the self-service checkout machines still exist. Customers of certain Walmart outlets have pushed back against it, and the retailer is taking the necessary steps. One of the best examples of this is the Walmart store in Colville, Washington – roughly 70 miles north of Spokane.
In a post on Facebook, the outlet revealed that it was going back to manned checkout counters as per customer feedback. There would still be self-service kiosks for those who prefer them. “You asked, we listened! Major changes are coming to your local Walmart's front-end experience! We ask for your patience these next couple of weeks while we improve the front end with new self-checkouts and, more importantly, many more manned registers!” the post read.
Shoppers hailed the move and made their feelings known in the comments section. “We certainly need more manned stations,” one user wrote. “Self checkouts are now so small that if you have more than 2 bags of groceries, there is no place to put the bags,” quipped another. “Self check out should be for 10 items or fewer,” a third user opined.
Apart from customer feedback, Walmart has also taken into account the several instances of shoplifting that it has been having to deal with ever since the introduction of the self-service kiosks. Manned checkout counters make it a lot harder for customers to slip out certain items without paying for them. It is not just the Colville store that has taken this measure. As per a report in The US Sun, stores in multiple states, including New Mexico, Missouri, and Ohio, are doing the same.
The report also states that one shopper predicted this change back in January. It was a customer of the store in Bradley, Illinois, about 60 miles south of Chicago.“Just to let everyone know, I got informed by a couple of Bourbonnais Walmart employees today that they are remodeling and going back to their old layout for the checkout. So no more self-checkout,” the customer wrote.
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