New Asda boss announces major change amid checkout ‘bedlam’

Detailed summary

Asda is making a change to the way customers shop (Picture: Getty Images) Doing your supermarket shop nowadays can feel like a bit of a solo mission, with a sea of self-checkout…

Doing your supermarket shop nowadays can feel like a bit of a solo mission, with a sea of self-checkout machines and increasingly fewer employees to help you out.

But at Asda, that’s all set to change, thanks to a new boss heralding in the return of traditional tills.

After being hired as CEO earlier this month, former Morrisons chief executive David Potts announced plans for more staff-operated checkouts and fewer mystery ‘unexpected item in bagging area’ alerts.

During a visit to a store in West Yorkshire to mark his first day on the job, he said: ‘We’re making it harder than it should be for customers to get what they want, move around the store and pay for their shopping.

‘We need to change that, starting now, which is why I’ve instructed all our General Store Managers to open more full-service checkouts, spend more time on the shop floor and get more product on shelves and well-presented throughout the day.’

Describing the shopping trip as ‘everything’ to the company, Potts shared his commitment to making the whole experience easier for Asda customers, so they can ‘find what they came for and get through the checkouts easily.’

In an effort to achieve his goal, he asked the retailer’s 1,100 UK store managers to make human-staffed tills a ‘fundamental’ priority going forward, with a policy stating they must be available from 8am at minimum.

If you prefer the DIY option though, fear not: Asda will also be making sure there are enough self-service and Scan and Go tills available for shoppers to use, should they wish.

At the moment, there are approximately 3,400 staffed checkouts across the chain’s main stores, which are considerably outnumbered by its 8,100 self-service kiosks and 2,200 handheld Scan and Go devices.

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