Tesco opens store with no checkout staff

by GD Thu 22 Oct 2009, 1:55 pm

Tesco has opened the UK's first self-service store with no checkout staff.

The Tesco Express store in Northampton contains five self-service tills supervised by a single member of staff.

Tesco dubbed the outlet an "assisted service store", designed to increase efficiency.

Shopworkers' union Usdaw said it feared Tesco was setting a precedent to cut checkout staff and would raise its concerns with the company.

The retailer said the self-service Express store was a trial and it had no plans to open a large supermarket without checkout staff.

But the British Retail Consortium(BRC), believed the move could be the start of a technological revolution in supermarkets.

"We could see the end of staffed checkouts for ever," it said.

"Customers are interested in how quickly they can pay for their goods and get out and retailers are constantly focused on improving that."

Tesco denied the move would cut jobs and eliminate human interaction.

Tesco said: "The number of staff won't change. The customer interaction won't change.

"We're creating over 11,000 jobs this year. We're creating jobs, not cutting them."

Sainsbury's and Asda said they had no plans to follow Tesco's lead and introduce self-service stores with no checkout staff.

mmm have my reservations with this one....

by bug1 Thu 22 Oct 2009, 4:47 pm

With the current staffing levels at B&Q they seem to be heading the same way!

Tesco opens store with no checkout staff

Tesco opens store with no checkout staff

Re: Tesco opens store with no checkout staff