25-05-2025
Smile for the scanner: Tesco rolls out 'big brother' style self-service tills
Tesco has introduced a controversial new self-checkout system that records and replays video footage of customers at the tills – and it's already raising eyebrows.
Currently being rolled out across Tesco stores in the UK (but not yet in Ireland), these new self-service checkouts act like a retail version of VAR, replaying clips of customers if an item is missed during scanning.
If you accidentally, or deliberately, fail to scan an item, including something as small as a bag-for-life, the screen will flash a message: 'It looks like that last item didn't scan. Please check you scanned it correctly before continuing.'
The aim is to deter theft by reminding customers that they're being watched, by themselves. Tesco has introduced a controversial new self-checkout system that records and replays video footage of customers at the tills – and it's already raising eyebrows. Pic: Getty
It follows similar moves by other UK retailers such as Sainsbury's, who also introduced the technology earlier this month.
Retailers suggest that the psychological impact of seeing yourself 'caught in the act' could lead some would-be shoplifters to think twice, though it's unlikely to deter everyone.
Supporters of the system believe it could reduce the need for other anti-theft measures, such as lockboxes or security tags on certain items.
However, the response from customers so far has been mixed, with some feeling unnerved by the surveillance.
While Tesco and other supermarkets double down on technology, some are heading in the opposite direction.
Booths, a regional UK supermarket chain based in Lancashire, has removed most of its self-checkouts and returned to fully staffed tills. Since making the switch in late 2023, Booths says customer satisfaction scores have jumped from 70 to 74 out of 100.
Booths Managing Director Nigel Murray credits much of the improvement to better service from trained staff. 'If you've got someone doing that job for six, seven, eight hours a day, they're simply going to do it better than someone who uses it once every few days,' he said.
In Ireland, the rise of self-checkouts has drawn concern from shoppers and public representatives.
Earlier this year, Carlow County Councillor Willie Quinn criticised the lack of human staff at local retailers.
Speaking at a council meeting, he described it as 'very sad' to see so few people manning tills, particularly in shops like Penneys in Carlow, which introduced self-checkouts just before Christmas. Pic: Marc O'Sullivan
'There were 13 checkouts and only five people working at them, the rest were machines,' he said.
'Is that the way our country has gone? Turning our back on our own people and jobs?'
