High street food chain is making a big change to checkouts as boss admits mistake

A HIGH street food chain has announced it's making a big change to its restaurants after bosses admitted it made a mistake using too many self-service checkouts. Itsu will now add two more staffed tills to each of its 83 outlets across the UK. At the moment, each restaurant has only one manned till but a number of self-service checkouts. Itsu founder Julian Metcalfe told the Financial Times he believes the chain "embraced technology too quickly".

However, he does still believe in using technology behind the scenes - as Itsu uses three sushi-preparing robots in each kitchen. "If a machine can peel potatoes faster than three people, then get it," Metcalfe said. The news shows Itsu is bucking the trend seen by most retailers at the moment. Many chains are regularly introducing more self-service checkouts to stores and restaurants - particularly since Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased staffing costs in her Budget.

Under the Budget plans, employers will have to pay more in National Insurance contributions from April. Clothing retailer Next said last month it would introduce self-service checkout tills in some of its stores in a bid to cut costs. A trial is beginning either this month or in March, and if successful the self-checkouts will be rolled out nationally within the next six months. Meanwhile, other fashion retailers like Primark, Zara and Uniqlo have already rolled out self-service checkouts.

Zara and Uniqlo use RFID (radio-frequency identification) chips to identify clothing dropped in the unit's 'basket', rather than needing customers to scan items one-by-one. M&S and Sainsbury's have also both started experimenting with large-scale self-checkouts that let shoppers pay for bigger shops. "Assisted belted checkouts", designed to accommodate larger trolley shops were rolled out in 45 M&S Food Halls late last year.

Sainsbury's trialled hybrid tills with moving conveyor belts also meant for bigger trolley shops. The supermarket has also introduced new barrier systems which require self-checkout shoppers to scan their receipts before they leave the store. But the self-service tills often spark fury among customers struggling to scan items through. The changes can also alienate older customers or families with young children who often rely on assistance when checking out.

Plus, critics of self-checkouts argue that they often reduce the number of staff available to assist customers, which can be especially problematic during peak hours. Data previously published by The Grocer revealed customer service satisfaction has dropped as much as 8% due self-service tills. However, some argue self-checkouts can be quicker for those who are comfortable with the technology. Sainsbury's boss Simon Roberts said last year that customers love the supermarket's self-service machines and value the "speedy checkout".

Some retailers have still taken a different approach as a result of a perceived backlash from customers - and even scaled back their self-checkout offerings. Morrisons announced last year it would decrease the number of self-checkout kiosks in its stores. In an interview with The Telegraph, chief executive Rami Baitiéh said the retailer had gone "a bit too far" with the concept, admitting some shoppers "dislike it, mainly when they have a full trolley".

Asda also admitted it had gone too far with self-checkouts and decided to roll back on the technology. Chief financial officer Michael Gleeson told The Telegraph: "I think we have reached a level of self-checkouts and scan and go where we feel that works best for our customers, and we feel we've got the balance just about right. "We have invested additional hours in manned checkouts and that's been within the existing physical infrastructure [of the stores]. It's not more checkouts, it’s more colleagues on checkouts.".

Northern supermarket chain Booths also scrapped almost all of its self-service tills in 2023 amid negative feedback. There's another reason shops might be considering scaling back on self-checkouts. A recent survey conducted by The Grocer found more than a third of Brits openly admit to using self-service checkouts to steal from shops. Some 37% of shoppers said they had deliberately failed to scan an item - with men and the under-35s most likely to do so - according to the poll of 1,000 people.

Another 32.5% admitted to not weighing loose items correctly, while 38% said they had passed off an expensive item as a cheaper one. Matt Hopkins, an associate professor in criminology at the University of Leicester, told The Grocer: "This move to self-scan and self-checkout has created a new breed of shoplifter. "You’re creating opportunities for people who otherwise wouldn’t even think about shoplifting.".