How to balance self-service in the United States?

Industry experts in the United States have expressed concerns about the financial impact faced by businesses, this time due to a bill aimed at eliminating self checkout. Senate Bill 1446 aims to reduce theft related to self checkout stations, but industry experts believe that this may impose a significant cost burden on business owners. According to the abstract of the bill, future grocery stores or retail pharmacies may be prohibited from providing customers with self checkout options unless specific conditions are met.

Firstly, David Wilkinson, CEO of NCR Voyix, a leading global provider of digital commerce solutions for the retail, catering, and digital banking industries, and a member of the board of directors of the National Retail Federation, stated that the bill will not only disappoint customers by reducing choices, but also "result in higher operating costs that will be passed on to consumers. According to an economic analysis conducted by Encina Advisors, LLC on behalf of the California Business and Education Foundation on SB 1446, the company will need to add approximately 10200 cashiers under mandatory regulations. According to the survey results obtained by Fox Business Channel, this will result in an annual cost increase of at least $497.1 million for grocery retailers.

On the other hand, combating theft is a complex social issue that involves the joint efforts of policy makers, businesses, and technology departments. Ryan Yang, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox Business Channel that the best solution is to enforce stricter anti store theft laws. Self checkout channels can reduce labor costs, but they also increase the risk of theft. Enterprises should weigh the pros and cons and make decisions based on their own situation, rather than relying on government legislation.

Meanwhile, Todd Vassos, CEO of Dollar General, told analysts on the earnings conference call that the company will remove self checkout machines from the 300 stores with the biggest wear and tear issues in the first half of the year. At present, the company provides self checkout services in over 14000 stores. However, in order to alleviate the current unfavorable factors, the company will deploy three measures this year to change its self checkout strategy. We have now started to convert self-service checkout machines into auxiliary checkout machines in approximately 9000 stores. The purpose of this move is to first direct passenger flow to our manual checkout counter, and then provide auxiliary checkout options as the second or third option to reduce queuing during peak hours.

Moreover, customers have also reported that some self-service scanning machines are slow, unreliable, and lack humanization. Although self checkout machines are designed to improve efficiency and control labor costs, customers still face difficulties in waiting for staff to verify their identity when purchasing alcohol, as well as difficulties in checking out agricultural products.

Overall, shoplifting is indeed a problem facing the United States. Although technology enables shoppers to scan and input product quantities on their own, it may also encourage dishonest behavior among law-abiding citizens. Consumers may intentionally reduce the scanning of products or input cheaper items, resulting in losses for the store. However, self checkout machines are unlikely to completely disappear, especially in the face of labor shortages, as many customers still prefer this convenient method. The service model of technical support will undoubtedly become the mainstream in the future, but how to choose and integrate technology in business will be an important decision. Only by applying technology correctly can employees make wise decisions based on deep insights, drive business development, and enhance customer experience.