Does self checkout impact grocery store loyalty?

January 4, 2024
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With an intent to cut expenses and enhance customer satisfaction, numerous retailers are opting for self-checkout systems across the United States. While popular, certain brands such as Walmart both remove and add self-checkouts differently in different places. There are pros and cons associated with self-checkout for customers and retailers, but the examination of its impact on customers' shopping experience has been inadequate. This gap led scientists from Drexel University's LeBow College of Business to study the effects of grocery store self-checkout designs on consumer loyalty relative to regular checkout systems.

The research, helmed by LeBow's associate professor Yanliu Huang, Ph.D., and former Drexel graduate student, now a faculty member at San Diego University, Farhana Nusrat, Ph.D., performed five studies demonstrating that consumers are more inclined to be loyal to the store when using conventional checkout service. Their research showed that the perceived simplicity of checkout and a sense of entitlement explain the loyalty effect. They noted the number of items purchased during a shopping trip also impacts how the checkout method influences customer loyalty. Huang articulated that self-checkout systems could lower customer loyalty despite their benefits in speed, ease of use, and cost-cutting, particularly for larger shopping trips.

In their research that consists of five data gathered studies, they found that the perceived effort saved during checkout and the customers' expectation of service from the store affected loyalty negatively in self-checkout. But customers who found self-checking out a rewarding experience showed loyalty similar to those who preferred the traditional way.

This research could potentially assist retail stores in deciding whether to keep, add or remove self-checkout options and managing them for a better customer experience. Huang suggested that to counter the negative effects of self-checkout on customer loyalty, retailers could attempt to make the experience rewarding by hinting at the extra effort involved as a rewarding aspect. It could lead to a better shopping experience and, consequently, higher customer loyalty. Future research could expand to other self-service technologies and shopping sectors such as clothing, home improvement and luxury stores.

The study, titled "Feeling rewarded and entitled to be served: Understanding the influence of self versus regular checkout on customer loyalty", was recently published in the Journal of Business Research.

More information: Farhana Nusrat et al, Feeling rewarded and entitled to be served: Understanding the influence of self versus regular checkout on customer loyalty, Journal of Business Research (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114293

Journal information: Journal of Business Research

Provided by: Drexel University