Major retailers are backtracking on self-checkout
After years of investing in self-checkouts, Five Below, Dollar General and others are refocusing on human cashiers, citing long-running concerns about lost inventory.
After years of investing in self-checkout machines, some major retailers are starting to reverse course.
Dollar General said it has eliminated self-checkout options at about 12,000 locations, a majority of its stores, after it began the process in the first quarter this year. Five Below is working to remove self-checkout entirely in some of its “highest-risk” locations. Target also announced steps to limit or eliminate self-checkout options at some stores this year, and Amazon is pulling its “Just Walk Out” cashierless checkout system from its grocery stores.
The U-turns are occurring at retailers that once touted the upsides of fully self-service stores. As recently as 2022, Dollar General described self-checkout technology’s potential to “enhance the convenience proposition, while enabling our associates to dedicate even more time to serving customers.” The company had tried to test stores with 100% self-checkout kiosks in hundreds of its retail locations.
Five Below said it’s removing self-checkout options in locations it considers at high risk for thefts.Angus Mordant / Bloomberg via Getty Images file The decisions come amid retailers’ ongoing efforts to tamp down on “shrink,” an industry term for all the ways inventory can get lost, including through error or theft by shoppers or employees.
Some of the companies shifting gears on self-checkout have blamed theft for their moves. In March, Five Below CEO Joel Anderson said the most significant change the company made in testing theft mitigation efforts was to replace self-checkout options with employees. Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said in May that the company’s goal is to restrict self-checkout to high-traffic, low-theft locations.
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