UK supermarket chain removes self-checkout tills from most stores

They say the decision raised customer satisfaction ratings 

All but two of Booths' stores brought staff back to the tills back in 2023.

The only two shops exempt from their decision were two of their seven shops in Cumbria.

The store said at the time their decision was due to customer feedback.

A spokesperson for the store said: "We believe colleagues serving customers delivers a better customer experience and therefore we have taken the decision to remove self-checkouts in the majority of our stores."

They added: "We have based this not only on what we feel is the right thing to do but also having received feedback from our customers.

"We will retain self-checkouts in two of our stores in the Lake District in order to meet the needs of our customers during very busy periods."

The supermarket, which is often labelled as the northern Waitrose, has said that their philosophy is to sell "the best goods available in attractive stores, staffed with first class assistants."

The firm added: "Delighting customers with our warm northern welcome is part of our DNA and we continue to invest in our people to ensure we remain true to that ethos."

In a new interview with The Grocer, Booths managing director Nigel Murray confirmed that their move had in fact worked to boost customer happiness.

"We're at 74 now, up from 70 (out of 100)," he said of their customer satisfaction scores.

"Not all of that is due to the fact that we've taken self-service checkouts out of many of the stores... But when you look at things like service, into the 'promise of things to come' section, we've scored brilliantly.

"Because in really simple terms if you've got somebody who is doing a job repetitively for six, seven, eight hours a day, they are going to do it faster and better than if you are just turning up to do it once every three days."