1 in 5 use DIY checkout counters

ONE in five customers now use self-checkout counters in two supermarket chains. Many chains also said the new system has raised productivity and cut manpower costs.

For example, over at FairPrice, only one staff member mans the entire self-checkout area with four or six counters, compared with six cashiers required for six conventional counters.

Lian Lay Yong, senior director of business groups support at NTUC FairPrice, told My Paper: "Cashiering productivity has also increased by 100 per cent based on an average across the stores."

The chain began rolling out such counters in Feb 2011 and has them in 37 stores.

Meanwhile, at Cold Storage, the number of cashiers has been reduced by about 44 per cent in a mid-sized store, said a spokesman.

It has 84 self-checkout counters at 27 stores, the first of which was installed in 2006.

Under the self-checkout system, customers check out groceries on their own instead of through a cashier.

Last month, the National Productivity Council launched a campaign to encourage more consumers to adopt self-service or do-it-yourself (DIY) options.

Many shoppers My Paper spoke to said self-checkout machines were easy to use. Dance instructor Gina Ye, 22, said: "It's a lot more convenient this way."

Both FairPrice and Cold Storage said about 20 per cent of all transactions are paid via self-checkout counters, while more than 570,000 customers at Giant have used the 53 counters in 10 of its outlets in the past three months.

A common model for the self-checkout system is for shoppers to scan the items, pack them in bags and pay for them. If they need help, a staff member is there to assist.

FairPrice, Cold Storage and Giant still have conventional cashiers for shoppers who prefer that option but Sheng Siong adopts a different system.

It uses a hybrid model where cashiers no longer accept payment from customers but only scan and pack the items. Customers must pay for the items at self-payment machines.

The chain launched this system in June and now has the option in six of its outlets.

Jane Oh, 53, who is self-employed, said the two-step process was inconvenient.

She added: "From the customer's point of view, you are not giving us a choice."

A Sheng Siong spokesman said that the conventional cashier option was removed to "gain efficiency in terms of hardware usage" and "to achieve 100 per cent self-payment by customers, as compared with other supermarket operators".

However, Sheng Siong may operate a few cashier counters in their bigger stores when the hybrid self-checkout counters are functioning at full capacity.

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