technical writing

AUDIENCE PROFILE

Audience Identity and Needs

Primary audience: Doug McMillon, Walmart CEO

Relationship: None

Purpose of Document: Inform

Intended Use of Document: Determine Feasibility of Using All Self Checkout Machines

Prior knowledge about this topic: Knowledge of the General Customer Experience with Self Checkout Machines

Probable questions: How are Current implementations Performing? Any Surveys or Studies?

Audience's Probable Attitude and Personality

Attitude toward topic: Receptive

Probable objections: Objections may match the drawbacks observed in this report

Probable attitude toward this writer: Open and Receptive

Organization climate: Financial

Persons most affected by this document: Grocery Store Shoppers

Temperament: Curious 

Audience Expectations about the Document

Reason document originated: My idea

Material Important to Audience: Wait Time and Efficiency

Acceptable length: Concise

Tone: Business

Cultural Considerations: U.S.A audience

Due Date: October 27

Determining the Feasibility of

Using all Self-checkout stations

Prepared for

Doug Mcmillon

Walmart, Inc.

by

Carson Adams

October 27, 2021

Letter of Transmittal will go on this page.

Table of Contents will go on this page.

There are inefficiencies with the current checkout structure of a grocery store. Often checkout lines are too long, and not all checkout counters are operational due to worker costs. There is a constant battle between opening and closing checkout counters to meet customer demand. For Walmart, addressing this problem correctly will lead to more profitability and higher customer satisfaction.

One possible solution would be to replace all checkout counters with self-checkouts. Self-checkout counters need less supervision and are operated by the customer. One employee can aid five customers at once as opposed to one. This leads to a massive output increase from a traditional checkout counter.

This report will cover the advantages and disadvantages of installing only self-checkout counters in a Walmart grocery store. The Efficiency of the redesign will need to be evaluated with how much consumer flow can be assigned per employee, as well as cost data long term and when installing the system. The lower amount of employees needed may lead to job loss. The consumer experience is the top priority in this redesign. Consumer feedback on self-checkout machines and current implementations of this solution will be evaluated. The consumer feedback may include security risks, wait times, and overall how easy it is to use a self-checkout machine.

Customer Experience

Customer Opinions over self-checkouts are mixed. 20-40% of consumers will choose a self-checkout machine when given the option. Some consumers enjoy the non-social aspect of self-checkout machines. Some are more antisocial and others say dealing with cashiers “slows you down”. Older consumers are less likely to use Self-checkout machines due to a lesser familiarity with technology. Others just don’t like to bother with the machine. Self-Checkouts may be faster, but the self-service aspect may be seen as more effort to others. My personal experience was confusing when first approaching a self-checkout machine. Other issues may be problems with the technology itself. Self-Checkout machines can develop errors or bugs that can cause a delay or frustration from the consumer.

The number one complaint from consumers is the wait times. One manufacturer states that Self-checkout machines reduce the queue by 40%, and Home Depot claims that self-checkouts have reduced their lines by a third. A single self-checkout machine is only as fast as the consumer using it. The speed increase comes from more self-checkout machines being fit into one place, and more being operational at once. There’s a different story when comparing a single self-checkout machine to a standard checkout. Cashiers are trained to scan items quickly and efficiently. Some items may have difficult barcodes, and others may be tough to distinguish by looks. A cashier will beat out a consumer in most circumstances when scanning items. This is especially true when the consumer is new or unfamiliar using a self-checkout.

Security Risks of a Self-Checkout

A cashier’s job is not only to scan items but to make sure thefts don’t occur. Thefts are more common with the introduction of self-checkout machines either from items intentionally being skipped while scanning or accidental theft from pricing errors. Below is a theft survey that was taken from shoppers, and a figure categorizing the different ways of theft introduced with self-checkout machines.

Figure 1: Reasons for Theft from Shoppers

Figure 2: Categorizing different methods of Theft

Self-Checkout machines are vulnerable when it comes to theft. All the methods shown above would not happen through a normal checkout machine with a cashier. None of the methods shown above are started with an initial intent to steal.

Job Loss and Current Implementations

Introducing Self-Checkouts could also contribute to the loss of jobs with cashiers. This is not the case with Home Depot. Home Depot introduced self-checkout stations and were able to shift cashier workers to the floor to provide additional help in the store. This change was introduced in 2002. The average customer sale went up by 7.3% from 2004, and they were projected to hire 20,000 additional workers by 2005. In the case of Home Depot, the introduction of self-checkout stations did not lead to a loss of jobs or a loss of service.

Going further, Walmart already has two supercenters that use all self-checkout machines. The main benefit observed is all checkout stations can be open at once. Some other benefits include a more inviting layout with checkout stations laid in a circular fashion, and less training for the employees.

Determining the Feasability of an all self-checkout supermarket requires more research and more experimentation. A huge factor in determining if the change is worth it or not is the customer feedback received from a store with the change implemented. Further studies and surveys need to be performed to determine the feasibility of an all checkout walmart center. The initial success with both locations leans towards the idea being feasable and likely to benefit other walmart locations. Overall the biggest concern with this change would be ensuring no jobs are lost from the change, managing the downsides of self-service with consumers, and finding ways to prevent the new methods of theft introduced with the technology. The upsides would be a massive decrease in wait times, and less employees needed per consumer.

Andrews, Christopher K. (2014), “The End of the (Checkout) Line? Automation, Self-Service, and Low Wage Jobs in the Supermarket Industry, ”

Andrews, Christopher K. (2009), “Do-it-yourself”: Self-checkouts, supermarkets, and the self-service trend in American business”

Taylor, Emmeline. “Supermarket Self-Checkouts and Retail Theft: The Curious Case of the Swipers.” Criminology & Criminal Justice, vol. 16, no. 5, 2016, pp. 552–567., https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895816643353.

Larson, Ronald B. “Supermarket Self-Checkout Usage in the United States.” Services Marketing Quarterly, vol. 40, no. 2, 2019, pp. 141–156., https://doi.org/10.1080/15332969.2019.1592861.

Dallas Innovates. “Check This out: Walmart Tests All-Self-Checkout Supercenter in Plano " Dallas Innovates.” Dallas Innovates, 17 July 2021, https://dallasinnovates.com/check-this-out-walmart-tests-all-self-checkout-supercenter-in-plano/.