Spend a day running errands and you’re likely to run into a bay of self-checkout machines at your local discount or grocery store chain. First introduced at a Kroger store in Georgia in 1986, self-checkouts became more popular in the early 2000s. They have since become a controversial topic among shoppers, with some praising the technology for streamlining the retail experience and others trying to avoid it at all costs. Ask your coworker, neighbor, or friend and chances are you will find someone with a strong opinion about self-checkout, but a consensus is a bit harder to come by. We used our social listening and analytics solution to get closer to the truth about how consumers view self-checkout.
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The self-checkout digital conversation overall
From October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024, there were about 168,000 social media, blog, product reviews, comments, and podcast mentions expressing an opinion about self-checkout. There were about 458 mentions of the technology daily, with higher mentions on average from October through mid-March.
Walmart was the most-mentioned organization, followed by Target. This is likely because both stores introduced new self-checkout policies this year.
When it comes to how people feel about self-checkout, sentiment is much more negative than positive.
As our AI-powered insight feature summarizes, many positive posts mention loving the convenience (as well as the ability to steal easily), while many negative posts mention technical, social, and economic frustrations with the systems.
Learn more about why AI-powered insights are important for marketers.
Our analysis found that X — followed by Reddit — was the top source for self-checkout opinions. Let’s dive into the conversation on each of these platforms to drill down on the emerging narratives.
Self-checkout opinions on X: A multitude of frustrations
Mentions on X, where nearly half of all mentions came from, spiked highest on March 15, 2024, thanks to rising discussion of self-checkout frustrations, including accessibility for people with disabilities, item limits, and potential subscription services for use. The second-highest spike was on November 18, 2023, when a discussion full of mixed opinions arose on their convenience, accuracy, and efficiency.
This was the second most-engaged post about self-checkout on X.
Out of the 10 most engaged posts on X:
- 4 discussed whether (and how) self-checkouts facilitate or encourage theft
- 3 discussed a viral video that allegedly shows a store’s employee calling the police on a customer struggling with self-checkout
- 2 mentioned the loss of jobs and shift of labor from paid workers to the consumer
- 1 mentioned John Mulaney’s recent appearance at a tech conference at which he made fun of attendees for looking like they believe in the future of self-checkout
Overall, praise for self-checkout on X is few and far between. However, of the 15% of positive mentions, many highlight convenience and efficiency.
Self-checkout opinions on Reddit: Generational divides
On Reddit, which had the second-highest volume of self-checkout opinions at over 7,400 mentions, generational differences emerged as a leading talking point. For example, the biggest day of self-checkout discussion on the platform was on January 21, 2024, sparked by a post in r/science sharing a then-recent Drexel University blog about research into self-checkout’s effect on customer loyalty at grocery stores. The brief link-sharing post generated about 3,300 comments, with discussion touching on the forum’s focus on science while veering outside of personal shopping experiences.
The most upvoted comment, and its top response, on a r/science post about scientific research into self-checkouts and customer loyalty.
The post’s top response critiqued the study for not controlling for age, the assumption being that the loyalty of older customers would be impacted more than that of younger ones.
Other top subreddits for self-checkout discussions included r/retailhell, a forum for retail workers to vent, r/Millennials, and r/GenZ. Redditors in these discussions expressed a wide range of opinions about using self-checkout themselves; however, the popular perception in some of the most engaged posts is that hating, refusing to use, or struggling to use self-checkout is associated with the Baby Boomer generation. Meanwhile, though many members of these non-Boomer communities perceive themselves as more welcoming of the technology than older generations, they still have their complaints, with members of r/Millennials having only slightly more positive opinions (12.7%) than members of r/GenZ (12.3%).
So, what do shoppers like about self-checkout?
These upvoted comments from a Reddit post about self-checkout at Aldi stores summarize what some consumers love about the technology.
While self-checkout has its haters, many people love the technology. According to our analysis, some of the top qualities shoppers love about self-checkout are:
- Efficiency: Many positive opinions mention using self-checkout to get in and out of stores fast, especially if consumers are buying just a few items during busy shopping times.
- Setting your own pace: On the flip side, some people like that they can take their time with self-checkouts.
- Avoiding social interaction: Whether they regularly dislike face-to-face interaction or are just having an introverted day, a lot of love for self-checkout comes from people who appreciate not having to make small talk while shopping.
- Having options: Sometimes shoppers want to use self-checkout. Other times, they don’t. However, many consumers appreciate having the choice.
Takeaways for marketers and retailers
Retail marketers have endless insights to gain from how consumers talk about self-checkout, but here are three of the biggest ones revealed by our analysis:
- News articles about self-checkout are surefire sparks for discussion about the technology online, highlighting just how eager consumers are to share their opinions and experiences about the topic. Marketers and retailers alike can meet this eagerness by giving consumers more arenas and opportunities for expressing their self-checkout likes and dislikes.
- Hating or struggling with self-checkout is commonly associated with older people. Whether or not this perception is rooted in reality, accessibility and usability are real concerns around the technology. At the same time, some prominent content associates younger generations with using self-checkout for theft. Both assumptions paint these generations in a negative light that retailers can combat with on-the-floor changes and marketers can combat with messaging.
- Self-checkout is a hot talking point as more stores adopt or adjust their approach to the technology. Marketers and retailers need to stay on top of these conversations to see what is and isn’t working as consumers’ perceptions of self-checkout continue to evolve.
Looking for more data on the retail sector? Learn more about how consumers discover and research their favorite products and brands in our retail industry report.
