Many supermarket chains are adopting the self-checkout style, but Trader Joe’s prefers to stick with the usual way—human cashiers. In an official podcast, Trader Joe’s president, Jon Basalone, addressed recent rumors that the chain was getting a self-checkout kiosk. “We believe in people. We’re not trying to get rid of our crew members for efficiency’s sake,” he said, debunking the news.
Jon recalled when he had to get some help at self-checkout because he could not use it. The chain’s CEO, Bryan Palbaum, agreed with Jon, adding that the automated kiosks were “not fun” and elaborating, “I have fun bagging groceries and working at the register. Self-checkout is work, I don’t want that.”
Customers do not like self-checkout
A 2022 survey showed that about 670 out of 1000 shoppers experienced failure at the self-checkout lane. The errors were so frequent that customers report such on social media with memes and videos. “We’re in 2022. One would expect the self-checkout experience to be flawless. We’re not there at all,” Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University, who has researched self-checkout herself, said.
Asides from unreliability, they are also expensive to install and discourage customers from buying many items for fear of a breakdown. These lead to losses and, worse still, shoplifting because there is no monitoring, unlike human cashiers.
Are Trader Joe’s cashiers friendly on purpose?
On the podcast, Jon and Bryan denied rumors of their cashiers being deliberately flirty at the checkout stand. “Definitively, no,” Bryan answered. Jon added that the cashier’s friendliness can be misinterpreted because Trader Joe’s has created a “unique environment” where “everyone is genuinely interested in whether or not you are having a good day, compared to maybe perhaps other retailers.”
The chain will continue the human interaction between their cashiers and customers, with no plans to change that soon. Thankfully, they remain a go-to grocery store for American residents, with over five-hundred stores nationwide. “We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing, but we’re going to grow,” Jon assured.