Tesco shoppers back people as they rage against self-service checkouts
A Tesco customer has called on the grocery giant to "stop replacing people with machines" after she was less than impressed with its self-service checkouts.
Pat McCarthy has started a petition asking for more cashiers on tills because "you can't speak to a machine".
This has been signed by almost 110,000 people.
“My name is Pat, I am 69 years old, and retired but I am a volunteer helping disabled people with applying for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) forms and a Trustee of my local Disability Network,” McCarthy writes on her Change.org page.
“My local Tesco has inaccessible self-service tills with no staff which makes the shopping experience physically difficult and overwhelming.”
“At my local Tesco mega-store, and probably all over the country, Tesco is bringing in new self-service and sort-it-yourself card only till machines. They make up 3/4 of the tills now.”
These tills, she argues, are not accessible for people who don't have credit cards and can only use cash or those with little confidence to use them, for example, older and disabled people.
She continues: “They have displaced mainly part-time women staff.”
“I love chatting with the staff, albeit briefly, especially as l live on my own. Talking with human staff is important to me. Now that experience has been taken away from me.”
She concludes: “I challenge Ken Murphy Chief Executive of Tesco to meet with me for a discussion to explain his 'replace people with machines policy'. I want him to bring staff back to do check-outs on the till and not have a replace people with machines policy.”
“If we lose, it means an erosion of a great shopping experience into a Tesco's shopping nightmare.”
A Tesco spokesperson said: "Our colleagues and the friendly service they provide are absolutely vital to our stores and will always be on hand to help our customers, whether they are checking out at one of our colleague operated or self-service checkouts."
Trigo
Luke Bayliss has joined autonomous retail specialist Trigo as Senior Operations Manager.
He was previously at Tesco where, over a 15 year period, he held such roles as Transformation Project Manager and Change Manager.
Tesco is an investor in Trigo.
Last year, the grocery giant opened its first high street checkout-free store, powered by Trigo tech.
Named GetGo, this can be found in High Holborn, on the edge of the City of London.
Tapping AI and computer vision technology, the solution enables shoppers to walk into a store, check in via a QR code, select items for purchase, and exit without dealing with traditional checkouts..
Kevin Tindall, Managing Director at Tesco Convenience, said: "We are constantly looking for ways to improve the shopping experience and our latest innovation offers a seamless checkout for customers on the go, helping them to save a bit more time.”
"This is currently just a one store trial, but we're looking forward to seeing how our customers respond."
