No more unexpected items in Morrisons' bag area as it installs a thousand manned tills

Is this the end of the self checkout?

Self-service checkouts have divided the nation since they were first introduced in the 1990s

Self checkouts are out, 10-or-less lanes are in at Morrisons, which has scrapped the self-service machines for 1000 manned tills.

The supermarket’s new boss David Potts revealed 96% of his customers prefer staffed checkouts as they have someone to chat to, while two-thirds of shoppers are worried they will hold up queues in store as they wait for staff to override machines spouting warnings or being unable to scan a product.

Potts said: “We’re listening hard to our customers and responding quickly wherever possible. If customers from time to time do smaller shops they want to get in and out of our stores quickly.”

Instead, the chain will open 1000 ten-items-or-less lanes. He added: “Not everyone wants to be herded towards the self-scanning checkouts and not everyone has a full trolley.”

It comes just a month after Morrisons ditched its computerised queue management system, which would tell staff when to open extra checkout lanes. Instead staff will decide when to open and close checkouts as they see fit.

Self-service checkouts have divided the nation since they were first introduced in the 1990s - leading to frustration for many at having to wait for staff to approve problems and alcohol sales - to numerous jokes at the repetitive voice telling shoppers to remove the “unexpected item in bagging area”.

Morrisons found that only one in three of their customers use self-service checkouts, and just one in four saying they would like to use them.

The British Retail Consortium, which represents the retail sector, said if this was the start of customers preferring to move away from self-service checkouts, towards more manned checkouts, supermarket would embrace the change.

A spokeswoman said: “If the evidence shows that customers prefer manned checkouts then supermarkets will want to show that any face to face contact they give will be the best available.”