Retailers really want shoppers to use self-checkout. For them, self-checkout is a great opportunity to reduce staffing costs. You would think, then, that they would do all they could to make self-checkout a great experience, one that would appeal to its best customers. This isn’t so, and many retailers clearly underestimate the psychological deterrents of self-checkout.

How about embarrassment? When customers get any scan wrong, they have to seek help. Many of them can’t help but feel that all eyes are on them and their failure. And then there’s true humiliation, when the associate who was turned to for help ends up questioning the shopper in a way that can feel like a public accusation of shoplifting.

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