SELF CHECKOUT

SERVICES: A
BOON OR A
BANE

TANYA
AGARWAL
3629859
 S E L F C H E C K OU T S E R V I C E S : A B O O N O R A B A N E

Introduction: Self-checkout is an automated process that enables the customers to process

their own purchases without any human assistance. The concept of self-check-out services
is not new but new instances have cropped up everywhere from banks to airports, retail
stores, supermarkets, airports etc.
Self-checkout service has become omnipresent and has created a new era of convenience
for consumers.

The service observed here is the self-checkout service at a supermarket – COLES. The
customer is required to scan the barcodes of each item, input the items such as fruits and
vegetables which is with a touchscreen display and then weigh them. After the scanning of
the items are done, all the scanned items have to be places into a bagging area.
Payment can either be done by cash or card. There are few machines specifically for card as
well as cash.

Products, Services, Information Systems all require different approaches to quality

–Garvin, Parasuraman, DeLone & McLean

Parasuram, Zeithmal and Berry have identified dimensions like reliability, responsiveness,
competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding and
tangibles of service quality as crucial.
Self-checkout is used extensively in supermarkets and has strong consumer acceptance.
Instead of queuing for a long time, these machines give instant services. The automated
voice on the machine makes it very user friendly.
The machine has a user interface that has an intuitive flow and has easy-to-use instructions
which makes it easy for anybody to navigate it without taking extra time.
Customers can get their service done in a short time and the service process is quite clear
and requires little effort.
The size of the machine is smaller than a traditional checkout which can save space and
could be used for other purposes. The physical form and appearance offers an effective and
efficient experience.
There are customers who do not want to interact with the cashier, hence the prefer the self-
checkout system. They also find it faster and convenient.
A service always has both pros and cons. The self-checkout services also have quite a few of
cons in them. The scale used to weigh the goods in the bagging area, fails, the machine does
not work. There isn’t enough staff on hand to perform immediate maintenance which also
makes it difficult for customers who are new to the system and do require assistance.
There should be more space between two machines to maintain privacy.

Quality is the “conformance to requirements” (Crosby 1979, p.17)

In a self-checkout service, quality is based on the satisfaction of a customer. This service
focuses on customers’ expectations and they are the focal point of quality efforts.
The customers have been successful using this technology and it gives them a quick
checkout option when they are in a hurry like for example during the lunch hours.
A key benefit of self-checkout services is that it frees up the store associates to provide
additional service.

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According to Garvin’s approach to define quality, self-service checkout would be a user

based approach. This service is for the customers and the success of this service depends
totally on their satisfaction. The main reasons for people to get inclined towards this service
is because its fast, compared to regular checkout lanes these lines are usually very short,
they are less of a hassle once you get familiar with the process, you can decide whether or
not you want to scan an item or return it without annoying the cashier through our
indecisiveness and most importantly there’s privacy.

The self-checkout services can be more user friendly by improving on its machine. A larger
bagging area could be provided as it gets really cramped up. It gets difficult to scan the
bulky or heavy items and also an attendant is required who is always available to assist if
needed. The common problem is the difficulty of use when more items were purchased and
when the items did not have a barcode and needed to be weighed.

The customers generally evaluate service quality based on attributes like speed, ease of use,
control, reliability and enjoyment. The service quality delivered by self-checkout relates to
overall customer satisfaction.
The customers enjoy using this technology as it has interesting functions and they feel good
about being able to use it. They can get the service done smoothly, in a shorter time without
any human interaction or assistance. The customers are being exposed to the
advancements in technology.

Based on the observations of the service, functionality, enjoyment, design, assurance and
convenience identified for the service quality would allow customers to assess service
quality of the supermarket self-checkouts.
Functionality includes the ease of use and reliability, design refers to the overall system and
assurance shows the confidence and competence of the service provider. And finally,
convenience is related to the accessibility of the checkout service offered.

Conclusion: Although self-checkout services are becoming an integral part in consumers

lives, they are still a bit far from being perfect in terms of ease of usability. Even though the
customers enjoy using the advanced technology and they potentially benefit from shorter
lines, more control and privacy, the flaws can often frustrate many of them. It only takes on
bad experience for the customers to revert back to the traditional cashier lanes and on the
other hand, positive experience can assure customer satisfactory returns.

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References:

• Garvin, DA 1984, 'What Does "Product Quality" Really Mean?', Sloan Management Review
(pre-1986), vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 25-.

• Atkinson, R 1999, 'Project management: Cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a
phenomenon, it’s time to accept other success criteria', International Journal of Project
Management, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 337-42.

• Fernandes, T. and Pedroso, R. (2017). The effect of self-checkout quality on customer

satisfaction and repatronage in a retail context.

• Kart (2017). A project report on service quality. [online] Slideshare.net. Available at:
https://www.slideshare.net/hemanthcrpatna/a-project-report-on-service-quality [Accessed 20
Aug. 2017].

• Assignment Point. (2017). Presentation on Quality and Quality Management - Assignment

Point. [online] Available at: http://www.assignmentpoint.com/science/textile/presentation-
quality-quality-management.html [Accessed 20 Aug. 2017].

• RET_SCO_wp.pdf. (2017).

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Self-checkout. [online] Available at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-checkout [Accessed 19 Aug. 2017].

• Web.mit.edu. (2017). Self-Checkout Analysis. [online] Available at:

http://web.mit.edu/2.744/www/Project/Assignments/humanUse/aychen/references.html
[Accessed 20 Aug. 2017].



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