Dollar General is joining a growing list of retail chains pivoting toward self-checkout technology.
Dollar General has added self-checkout machines to nearly half of its approximately 19,000 stores in an aggressive expansion strategy. Additionally, the company tested an experimental store with no checkout lanes and only self-checkout options. Dollar General, like other stores, bet that self-checkout would cut labor costs and shorten checkout times for consumers.
The company updated its self-checkout approach to increase revenue and reduce “shrink,” which means lost merchandise. Issues such as shoplifting, employee theft, hazardous materials, administrative errors, and internet fraud are all included in the shrink.
Retailers are facing downsizing, which they blame on an increase in theft and are calling for tougher criminal penalties.
However, the self-checkout strategies used by merchants also exacerbate the shrink problem. In self-checkout checkout lanes, retailers lose more potential revenue than full-service cashiers due to both intentional theft and honest customer mistakes.
According to the 2023 National Retail Security Survey, “Shrink losses as a percentage of total retail sales in 2022 increased to USD 112.1 billion from USD 93.9 billion in 2021.”
Dollar General is the latest company to eliminate self-checkout.
British supermarket chain Booths has announced that it will remove self-checkout kiosks from all but two of its 28 stores. Earlier this year, Walmart removed self-checkout kiosks from some New Mexico stores. Following customer complaints, Shoprite removed customers from its Delaware stores.
Target is limiting self-checkout at some stores to consumers purchasing 10 or fewer items. A full-service lane with cash register is mandatory for customers purchasing 10 or more items.
Costco has announced that it will increase the number of employees working at self-checkout counters after learning that non-members are infiltrating self-checkout counters by using membership cards that don’t belong to them.