Supermarket chain voted best in the US is quietly removing self-checkouts – but experts question claim it’s to improve customer service

A supermarket chain has become the latest to scale back self-checkouts amid backlash against the controversial technology.

Hy-Vee, which has about 300 stores mainly in the Midwest and South, has completely replaced self-checkout lanes with staffed lanes in some locations. Others have created express lanes, imposing a twelve-item limit at the kiosks.

Bosses say they want to ‘deliver a better customer experience in some of our stores by bringing back face-to-face interaction with our staff’.

In reality, the retailer – like its rivals – is ditching self-checkout kiosks because they are particularly vulnerable to theft.

“The rollback of self-checkouts is largely due to retailers’ concerns about theft,” retail expert Neil Saunders of Global Data told DailyMail.com.

Theft rates at self-checkouts are quite high, both due to intentional actions and unintentional errors,” Saunders explains.

‘Forcing more customers to use manned checkouts will solve many of these problems and save retailers money. This does not mean that self-checkouts will disappear completely, but there will be many more restrictions around their use.’

The employee-owned chain was founded in Iowa in 1930 and was recently crowned the nation’s favorite supermarket.

“We want to provide a better customer experience in some of our stores by bringing back the face-to-face interaction with our associates that we had before Covid,” a spokesperson said.

“Retailers like Target and Walmart have been removing self-checkouts across the country for several months, so we’re not the first to do this.”

The company has not yet provided a list of all stores affected by the change.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the Hy-Vee in Urbanville no longer had self-checkouts as of Sunday.

Despite the company’s insistence, the change is one that customer service experts have argued will increase the likelihood of theft.

‘They are rethinking their business strategy. Sometimes self-checkout aisles can lead to more inventory shrinkage, usually theft or simply losing items,” Peter Ralston, a professor at Iowa State University, told KCCI.

The supermarket chain began introducing self-checkouts at some of its locations in 2019 and then ramped up the rollout in 2020 during the pandemic.

Hy-Vee has been gradually moving away from self-checkouts since 2023, when it discontinued its Scan & Go cashless checkout app after just two years.

Self-checkouts were introduced as a way to shorten queues, increase in-store efficiency and reduce headcount – and soared in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But resistance to self-checkouts is growing, with both shoppers and store staff turning against it.

Customers feel like they are being put to work for free, while store bosses blame them for theft.

The top ten grocery stores were named by customers in a recent USA Today survey

Hy-Vee claims it is removing its self-checkouts to improve the customer experience in stores

Walmart, America’s largest retailer, began removing the machines from some of its stores earlier this year.

So far this year, it has completely removed them from at least six stores.

Target has done this for at least one store, even after pledging to do so across all of its 2,000 stores in March. Target also has a limit – of ten items – to keep the lines moving faster.

Dollar General has also begun removing self-checkouts from their stores due to high rates of shoplifting.

Kroger also added traditional cash registers to a store in Texas, where it previously only offered self-checkout machines.

Meanwhile, Costco has begun placing additional staff in its self-checkout areas to monitor shoppers and ensure all items are scanned correctly.