For Forbes, Jon Picoult examined Uniqlo’s self-checkout system and why it works better than others:
Behind this magical self-checkout experience lies a decidedly low-tech solution – radio frequency identification chips (RFID) that are embedded in every Uniqlo price tag. The self-checkout machine is equipped with an RFID reader that can – with remarkable accuracy – detect and record the price of all the goods tossed into the checkout bin. Compared to item-by-item scanning, this is an effortless experience
Seventy percent of Uniqlo’s customers (and up to 90% in some markets) choose to use the store’s self-checkout terminals. And rather than grouse about them, these customers love them. Indeed, these self-checkout machines have become a signature element of the Uniqlo store experience – finally fulfilling the decades-old promise of self-checkout by offering not just a better customer experience, but delivering it at a lower cost.
Jon also discusses the difference between shifting effort and reducing effort, which I resonated with me a lot. The whole point of self-checkout should be making the checkout experience so smooth that it doesn’t feel like you’re replacing the role of a service worker—you just want to scan your items, pay, and leave. But often the experience is full of friction and you have to call for assistance anyway.
Labor is not being reduced, it is merely being repositioned (from the employee to the customer). Customer experience “improvements” that just shift a burden from staff to patrons aren’t improvements at all.
If only they were all as good as this one.