An analysis into early customer experiences of self-service checkouts: Lessons for improved usability

Theme	Representative quote
Stressed	“using self-service makes me feel stressed. It’s complicated and it’s very annoying to wait for services”
Nervous	“I felt stressed and nervous before using self-scan and a little bit lost and stressed when I used it”
Frustrated	”I felt frustrated as the process was slow, frustrating and probably slower than queuing at a staffed checkout”
Controlled	“I felt controlled relying on staff and having staff always around”

Theme	Representative quote
Negative impact — the lack of	“the company isn’t able to interact with the people, there’s no possibility to build up any social contacts or personal loyalty to the customer”
relationship-building leading to isolated users	“there is nearly no human/personal aspect in the customer experience with the organisation, this might lead to negative experiences for the customer if he feels alone in the customer journey”
Positive engagement impact in — the allow shopping child process	“for children it’s an attraction, to be more involved in shopping”
Positive impact — financial savings for the organisation	“the benefits are for the organisation, it creates unemployment replacing workers, mostly mothers working part-time, with machines”
Positive impact — trusting the user	“[it] makes the customer feel like they are processing shopping quicker, have extra abilities and trust given towards them”

Theme	Representative quote
Having a low number of products	“I wouldn’t buy a lot of products or high involvement products at self-service because I want to get some advice for the product and want to get everything checked”
Small-sized products, light in weight	“it’s just easier and quicker to pack a few products which are light and easy to handle”
Low complexity products	“I prefer to use staffed checkouts if I have fruit or something, products without barcodes because I don’t know how to handle them”
Long queues at staffed checkouts	“I wouldn’t use self-service if there is a staffed check out without a very big queue”
Convenience day products purchased every	“convenience products, low involvement, which I’ve had experience with”
Sufficient space surrounding the checkout area	“there isn’t space at self-service checkouts [SSCOs], you are close to other customers and if the barcodes don’t scan or you don’t know where the barcodes are you are taking a lot of time”
The emotional state of the consumer	“I would use self-service if I’m sad and I don’t want to speak to anyone” “If I felt lazy or tired I would use self-scan”

Theme	Representative quote
Resolved by the user (waited)	“for the problem to resolve itself”
Resolved by the user (persevered)	“I just kept trying until it eventually worked”
Resolved by a member of staff (no choice)	“without them [the staff member] it is difficult to complete the process” and “I scanned an item and couldn’t continue. A staff member erased the item but didn’t tell me what went wrong. I felt like it could happen again at any time”

Theme	Representative quote
More staff to be employed in and around the SSCO area	“there should be more members of staff who can help the customer, so that the progress stays quickly”
The need for more space	“it would be helpful to have an area where I can store my bag or umbrella so that there are no unexpected items in the bagging area”
Ensure SSCOs worked every time	“if everything works, there will be no frustrations anymore, but if the machine doesn’t work without failures then the customer will be getting angrier and more frustrated”

Theme	Representative quote
Has not changed — Would only use again in the case of rushing or long queues at staffed checkouts	“my opinion hasn’t changed. I would only use self-scan in the future if I’m in a hurry and the queue is too long”
Has again not if changed they were — sad Would only use it	“sad and I don’t want to speak to anyone”
Has changed — SSCOs were not as quick as they first thought	“it’s meant to be quicker but [having used SSCOs] I think it’s slower than staffed check-outs”
Has changed — SSCOs were less complicated and quicker than first thought	“firstly, I thought it’s too complicated, but usually it’s quite simple and I like to speed the purchase up”
Has changed — SSCOs allowed more control	“I like the self-service and will use it in the future. I find it very comfortable and I like to have the option, handle the speed of scanning/buying on my own”

Research theme	Academic research
The motivation for the use of SSTs	Anon, 2016; Anon, 2014; Lee et al., 2010; Dabholkar, Bobbit & Lee, 2003; Meuter et al., 2000
Potential barriers to the integration of SSTs including theft	Åkesson, Wynne, 2016Edvardsson & Tronvoll, 2014; Knapton, 2016;
User skills and experience levels	Jayasimha & Nargundkar, 2006
Consumer preference for human interaction	Wang, Harris & Paterson, 2013; Reinders, Dabholkar & Frambach, 2008; Collier & Kimes, 2013; Simon & Usunier, 2007
Control of the consumer	Lee & Lyu, 2016; Reinders, Dabholkar & Frambach, 2008; Oyedele & Simpson, 2007; Nysveen, Pederson & Thorbjornsen, 2005; Hoffman, Novak & Schlosser, 2003; Venkatesh, 2000

Theme	Representative quote
Technical problems (Barcodes)	“I struggled with a baguette from the bakery section. I thought I had to manually put the item in but it, in fact, had a barcode printed on it which I found confusing as which bakery items should be scanned and which should be put in manually”
Technical problems (staff member intervention)	“It was frustrating to realise that if you buy alcohol at the self-scan you have to wait for a staff member. He has to check your ID to check how old you are. After the check of the staff member you can go on” and “the scanner didn’t realise that the scanned items were placed on the desk, so the interaction always stopped, and a staff member was needed”
Processual problems (placement of products)	“I usually kept all my items in my hands [not placing them in the bagging area] and was wondering why I couldn’t continue” and “when I was scanning my products I laid my umbrella down in the bagging area and wasn’t able to continue until a member of staff came and typed in a code”
Processual problems (lack of space at the checkout)	“I wanted to scan many products but there is too little space for all the products, so I decided to go to the staffed checkout”
Processual problems (payment)	“the machine wouldn’t accept the Scottish notes; I kept trying until someone came to help”

Research theme	Academic research
Product range	Yavas & Babakus, 2009; Miranda, Konya & Havrila, 2005
Customer service	Butcher et al., 2001; Heskett et al., 1997; Javalgi & Moberg, 1997
The role of the employee	Collier & Kimes, 2013; Lee et al., 2010; Wong, 2004; Swan, Bowers & Richardson, 1999
Price and promotion	Miranda, Konya & Havrila, 2005; Uusitalo, 2001; Urbany, Dickson & Sawyer, 2000
Store atmospherics and location	Yavas & Babakus, 2009; Miranda, Konya & Havrila, 2005

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