Target is Reducing Self-Checkout Hours in Some Stores

Target has slashed the hours of operation for self-checkout lanes at some of its stores. Not all store locations have had self-checkout hours cut, but the retailer is considering store staffing levels and sales volumes in its decision. Workers told Business Insider that Target is trying to keep the percentage of overall store sales via self-checkout below a certain threshold with this new move. This is the latest change that Target has made to its self-checkout lanes. Last fall, the retailer put item limits on shelf-checkout lanes at several stores in the Northeast, restricting shoppers to just 10 products or less if they wanted to use these kiosks.

Total Retail's Take: Retailers are faced with a conundrum: provide the convenience of self-checkout to their customers and accept increasing levels of theft that comes with it OR eliminate self-checkout altogether and damage their CX and potentially their brand reputation. It appears Target is trying to find a compromise, limiting self-checkout hours to certain times of the day. In addition to theft, the other factor that retailers must consider as it relates to the viability of self-checkout going forward is staffing levels. While it's easy to eliminate self-checkout as a loss prevention measure, the question then becomes do you have adequate levels of staffing to support full-service checkout in your stores. Many retailers do not. This would lead to long lines and frustrated customers. And I'm not sure Target has the solution by limiting self-checkout to select hours. Theft is an issue for retailers no matter their hours of operation. This is a dilemma that merchants are going to have to address.