Self Checkouts What is Their Future?

When I left Canada the other day I had to use the self check in to get my ticket at the airport. I have just been to Sainsbury’s in the UK supermarket and with some hesitation I went to the self check out desk with my goods. Self checkouts in retailing have been around in the USA since around 2005. In Australia they are still looked at as a new invention. But the latest research published in the Pittsburgh Tribune shows that in 2006 20% of us were happy to go to the self checkout with our groceries in the USA. In 2010 that has dropped to 16% and many supermarkets are removing the self check out option. I have just witnessed an embarrassed customer who got confused at the self checkout. Is the future a self checkout world? Perhaps we will go back to customer service?