When it comes to shoppers’ paying preferences for a basket-sized grocery shop, 6 in 10 (60%) prefer to use self-service checkouts over cashier checkouts, down marginally from the 64% recorded in our 2016 research.
Recent research on behalf of Retail Intelligence by Empathy Research, amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,070 adults aged 18+, sought to understand why there is a such a strong preference for self-service checkouts and the opportunity for future growth of self-service checkouts in-store.
The preference for self-service checkouts continues to be primarily driven by those aged under 35, where over eight in 10 (83%) would opt for this type of checkout, up marginally from previous levels recorded (81%). Previously, we had recorded a strong preference amongst Dublin residents for self-service checkouts, however, this is not as apparent this time around.
While the preference for self-checkout is higher in Dublin (65%), the gap to those living outside of Dublin is less noticeable (58%). Those more in favour of cashier checkouts continue to be more likely to be aged over 55 years of age (57%).
Key drivers for the preference of self-service checkouts include the time-savings experienced by shoppers, as well as their ease of use. Some 6 in 10 (60%) who prefer self-service checkouts, do so because of the smaller queues experienced (63% in previous research), with just over half (53%) claiming they prefer self-service checkouts because the queue moves faster than cashier checkout queues.
Just over 1 in 7 (15%) claim the general ease of use of self-service checkouts when not paying cash, is a motivation in their usage.
Almost half (46%) of all grocery shoppers claim they would like to see more self-service checkouts in grocery stores, with just over 4 in 10 (41%) shoppers believing the number of products permissible to scan at self-service checkouts should be increased.
For more information and in-depth analysis relating to this piece of research, including preferences for self-service checkout across different retailers, please contact Robbie Clarke at Empathy Research.
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