Why Trader Joe's Stores Are Noticeably Lacking Self-Checkouts

Trader Joe's is known for a lot of things. The grocery chain has become royalty in the frozen food market, and the franchise has a reputation for never offering discounts on its food. Trader Joe's also noticeably lacks self-checkout kiosks in its locations, and, according to company president Jon Basalone, those little self-scanning stands aren't something you'll see in a Trader Joe's anytime soon.

"We believe in people, and we're not trying to get rid of our crew members for efficiency's sake," Basalone said during a recent Trader Joe's company podcast. He added that he doesn't understand why merchants install self-checkout machines. He described an unpleasant shopping experience he personally had at a store, during which he struggled to use a self-check kiosk and ultimately had to get assistance from an employee.

Having genuine, friendly workers assisting customers is an important part of the Trader Joe's vibe. "What makes Trader Joe's so unique and so fun, great place to work, a great place to shop is the consistency and the fact that, yeah, the store itself has evolved, the products we carry, but the actual environment still feels as great as it did, you know, 10, 20, 30 years ago," Basalone said.

While it's definitely an against-the-current policy, Trader Joe's decision to keep self checkout out of its stores may have been a good one. And the reasons go beyond preserving the personal vibe for customers. 

Retailers originally turned to self-serve kiosks as a means of saving money, decreasing the number of paid cashiers while simultaneously increasing the number of available checkouts. Ostensibly, the move would result in increased efficiency and faster-moving customer queues. But many chains are finding that self-check stands are actually costing them money — both in terms of patron mistakes when scanning their own items and increases in theft due to lack of human oversight at the registers. Self-check has also proven to be a purchase deterrent, prompting customers to buy fewer items. Combine these realities with the huge expense of installing the self-serve machines to begin with, and it turns out check stand automation isn't all it was cracked up to be.

Customer cashiering has also proven to be less streamlined than merchants expected. Similar to Jon Basalone's experience, many patrons struggle at self-serve kiosks and ultimately need human help. Interface malfunctions also require the attention of store employees, and the need to check customer identification for items like alcohol and tobacco hasn't changed. Ultimately, paid workers are still necessary when it comes to self-service, negating the fundamental concept behind self-checkout. In preserving the old-fashioned way of doing business, it turns out Trader Joe's was ahead of the game. Big retailers like Walmart have actually removed self-check machines from some stores and beefed up employee presence at the self-check lanes in other locations.