Migros and Coop expand self-lending

Major distributors such as Migros and Coop are constantly expanding the range of self-service payments. Because of this, they do not need fewer employees, they both emphasize.

Migros and Coop are expanding the self-pay system and reducing traditional cash registers. New or refurbished branches often feature a large number of self-service payments, where customers check their purchases themselves. that reports “Watson” It refers to the recently opened Coop branches in Biberist SO, Schüpfheim LU and Egerkingen SO. Migros is also self-propelled. This area in the branch of Lucerne train station has been expanded by four stations.

There are several thousand such self-service payments in operation in Switzerland. Coop spokeswoman Rebecca Vega explains that the wholesaler is geared toward meeting customer needs. They mainly use self-checkout and self-scan for small purchases. According to Veiga, when the cart is full, many continue to appreciate the cash register being served.

According to Watson, no exact numbers are available about the number of self-service checkouts. Migros offers self-checkout (scanning products at the exit) and self-scanning (scanning products off the shelf) as well as scanning and paying directly to the shelf in a total of more than 1,300 branches.

Note that offers are required with every purchase. In a 2019 study, UBS found that 57 percent of shoppers already use self-checkout and another 14 percent are open to trying this service.

Fewer cashiers, but not fewer employees

Self-service payments represent the tendency to replace workers with machines and allow customers to provide part of the service themselves. In particular, the reduction in low-threshold jobs that supermarket checkouts provide in large numbers is fueling concerns.

A Coop spokeswoman counters this: Self-checkout is more versatile than working at a cash register. Migros stresses that the goal is not to cut staff, but rather to give an advisory role to the treasurers. So Migros will need fewer cashiers in the future, but not fewer employees. The complete abolition of operated cash registers is not planned. What the situation will look like in 20 or 50 years is inexplicable today.