The debate over self-checkout and self-scanning is not new, with proponents arguing the technology creates a convenient and efficient experience for shoppers, while critics assert that the solution is just a means of eradicating jobs and a wasted opportunity for retailers to enjoy personal interaction with consumers.

The debate over self-checkout and self-scanning is not new, with proponents arguing the technology creates a convenient and efficient experience for shoppers, while critics assert that the solution is just a means of eradicating jobs and a wasted opportunity for retailers to enjoy personal interaction with consumers.

Last week’s News of the World (purchased by my teenage son, honest) reported that Tesco is to roll out handheld self-scanning technology to 25 stores this year, thus enabling customers to scan products as they shop and avoid the time-consuming unpacking/repacking of groceries at the trip’s end.

This technology is nothing new, with Waitrose shoppers enjoying the service, Safeway among the early adopters back in the 1990s and supermarkets worldwide having implemented self-scanning.

The system is a good one (when it works and when shoppers are not spot-checked as a potential thief) and leads to a tangibly more convenient shopping experience with the additional benefit of enabling budget-conscious shoppers to tot up their spend as they go.

Self-checkout, now present in virtually all major UK supermarkets as well as retailers such as B&Q, Ikea and Boots, would get more of a mixed verdict.

Personally, with the exceptions of a flawless trip to Fresh & Easy in Phoenix and a visit to Loblaw in Ontario, self-checkout has proven to be never without problems.

The issue of personal interaction with shoppers is tricky. In shops such as Waitrose and Asda, where checkout staff are generally cheery and helpful, an encounter with them is a strong component of the retail offer.

In other chains, where one feels handing over a sum of cash is an unwanted distraction, one would happily see the whole lot of them replaced by robots or trained chimps - the levels of friendliness and service would be increased.

One frustration is that some retailers such as WHSmith, where the number of checkout staff is invariably woefully mismatched to the number of queuing shoppers and self-checkout would be an improvement, have yet (as far as I’m aware) to consider its implementation.

Bryan Roberts Director of Retail Insights, Kantar Retail