Dollar General Ditches Self-Checkout Lines, Citing Theft

Shopping trends have continually evolved over time, and especially in the last few decades with the advent of new technology, from new ways of getting deals to favoring online purchasing. But as far as the self-checkout norm goes, Dollar General has actually opted to remove the option and no longer has such lanes in several of its stores.

Self-checkout, originally called automated checkout machines or ACM, was first introduced into the mainstream shopping experience in July of 1986. Kroger initially implemented them in earnest in its Georgia locations, and at one point 96% of the stores surveyed by AP had self-checkout. However, Dollar General has been on the receiving end of some significant losses that higher-ups are attributing to the service.

Dollar General is removing the self-checkout lane from several of its locations

Dollar General is removing self-checkout lanes from 300 of its stores with the highest incidents of shoplifting. The chain has also reported significant inventory loss, according to CEO Todd Vasos.

RELATED: Trader Joe’s Insists On Not Adding Self-Checkout Kiosks To Their Stores

Meanwhile, some or all of the self-checkout lanes at 9,000 other stores are being converted to registers manned by cashiers. 4,500 stores will keep self-checkout lanes, but they will be limited to five or fewer items. In total, 14,000 Dollar General locations currently have a self-checkout option.

Some retailers are following this example and other stores are actually getting more of these types of registers

Similarly, Target is adjusting its model for this payment option. It will limit its ACM option to ten items or fewer and will add more traditional registers manned by cashiers for additional alternatives. Other retailers are following a similar pattern, though when asked by KTLA, a Walmart spokesperson said they needed to research the matter further, but at this time there were no significant plans to alter its purchasing options.

Costco and Wegmans are other big names that are reevaluating their checkout experiences. Sometimes it is a case of shoplifting and in others it is a matter of removing faulty technology and streamlining.

“Our customers have told us this over time — that the self-scan machines that we’ve got in our stores … can be slow, they can be unreliable (and) they’re obviously impersonal,” said Booths managing director, Nigel Murray.

Which version do you prefer?

RELATED: Walmart Looking To Officially Remove All Cashiers, Switch To Self-Checkout