But the pilot project didn’t quite catch on. Walmart tells CBC News that, currently, there’s just one such location across Canada and the U.S. — in Sainte-Agathe-des-monts, a small town in Quebec.
Meanwhile, over the past eight months, the retail giant has removed all its self-checkout machines at six U.S. locations, joining several other big box chains that have ditched the machines in certain stores, including, recently, a Giant Tiger in Stratford, Ont.
It’s a surprising shift in the predicted trajectory — instead of the all-self-checkout store becoming the norm, some retail outlets are returning to the traditional, all-cashier format.
“Stores anticipated that this technology would allow them to significantly reduce labour costs,”said Christopher Andrews, a sociologist and author of The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Do-It-Yourself Economy.
Instead of cutting costs, some stores discovered that self-checkout actually hurt their bottom line, largely due to theft, says Andrews.
“I think they’re just losing so much [money] that it just becomes an economic liability.”
Back in 2020, this Walmart Superstore in Fayetteville, Ark., piloted a cashierless format with 34 self-checkouts. (U.S. Walmart)
Machines need attendants
Two weeks ago, franchise owner Scott Savage removed the four self-checkout machines at his Giant Tiger discount store in Stratford, some 90 kilometres west of Hamilton.
He says, rather than theft, he made the change because many of his customers are seniors who dislike using the machines.
“The biggest complaint you have from everybody is, ‘You don’t pay me to work here,'” said Savage. “They would line up at my regular registers, and they would just prefer that service.”
At least six Canadian Tire locations in Ontario have also scrapped self-checkout. Two of the stores’ franchise owners, one in North Bay and one in Toronto, told CBC News they made the move because they felt it improved customer service.
Two weeks ago, franchise owner Scott Savage removed the four self-serve machines at his Giant Tiger in Stratford, Ont. He said rather than theft, customer feedback was the main reason for the change. (Jon Castell/CBC)
But Andrews says, along with theft, staffing requirements are often the main reasons why retailers abandon self-checkout. The machines require attendants to help customers — while also watching for thieves.
“What they found was that actually they couldn’t eliminate a lot of the cashiers, because they needed the cashiers there, in part, to deter shoplifting,” said Andrews, an associate professor at Drew University in Madison, N.J.
Self-checkout theft has more stores asking for receipts
10 months ago
Duration 2:03
Self-checkout theft is a growing problem for many Canadian stores, and some have started checking shoppers’ receipts to try and prevent it — despite backlash from customers.
The Retail Council of Canada says, in speaking with its members, it has assessed that self-checkout theft is on the rise.
“People love the self checkout, but at the same time, if there is no control, we’ve seen that theft has grown,” said the council’s CEO, Diane Brisebois.
She says she’s told some of the culprits are organized gangs of thieves who neglect to scan pricey items.
“It could very well be three very expensive bottles of face cream, it can be specialized baby formula,” Brisebois said. “They target merchandise that they know has high value on the street.”
Diane Brisebois, CEO of the Retail Council of Canada, says that theft has risen in stores where there are no controls in place at self-checkout. (Mark Bochsler/CBC)
‘Shrinkage’ costs money
Earlier this month, CBC News asked Walmart if theft was a factor in ditching self-checkout from certain stores. A spokesperson said the chain considers “several factors.”
But in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America last week, Walmart’s CEO admitted that the retailer removed the machines from locations with the highest rates of disappearing merchandise (known as “shrink” in the industry).
“There are a few stores where we’ve made the decision that they’ll come out of,” said Doug McMillon. “We want to make sure that the checkout process is accurate. Retail shrinkage is a cost. So enabling us to lower that cost, we can keep prices down.”
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Major U.S. dollar store retailers, Dollar Tree and Below Five, also recently announced they were eliminating self-checkout in stores with the highest rates of disappearing merchandise.
“Although adoption rates for self-checkout have been high, we believe there is truly no substitute for an employee presence,” said Dollar Tree’s CEO Todd Vasos during an earnings call in March.
He said the retailer was removing the machines in 300 stores and scaling them back in thousands of others.
“We believe these actions have the potential to have a material and positive impact on shrink,” said Vasos.
Leslie Clayton-Winget, who shops at Giant Tiger in Stratford, Ont., says she prefer interacting with a cashier rather than dealing with self-checkout. (Jon Castell/CBC News)
Back at Giant Tiger in Stratford, several customers told CBC News they were happy the store no longer has self-checkout.
“I like the person-to-person contact,” said Leslie Clayton-Winget. “You can’t say to a machine, ‘Have a good day.'”
Another customer said she fears the technology will eliminate jobs. “I’d rather see the people stay employed than [me] doing self-checkout,” said Angela Weber.
So what does the future hold for self-checkout? Andrews predicts retailers will continue to search for solutions that will help them iron out the kinks.
But he warns that any new strategy could also have drawbacks.
“I think we’ll continue to see them experiment,” he said. “But I think we’ll also continue to see these sort of unanticipated consequences.”
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
