Thank heavens! Asda set to employ more checkout staff as it admits Brits have reached the end of their tether at having to scan their own shopping

Asda is topping up the amount of time staff will be manning checkouts – after its finance boss admitted shoppers had reached their limit with self-scanning.

The supermarket has reported a 2.1 per cent dip in like-for-like sales in the first half of 2024 – and is spending £30million on extra staffing hours to keep shelves fully stocked around the clock and to increase the number of workers on checkouts.

But the supermarket has admitted it won’t be putting any extra old-fashioned checkouts into stores that have had them ripped out in favour of self-service and ‘scan-and-go’ terminals.

Instead, the tills that are left following the purge of the past will be staffed more often – especially at weekends and other peak times when queues are longer.

Michael Gleeson, chief financial officer, says Asda has found a ‘balance (that is) just about right’ when it comes to manned and self-service checkouts.

Asda says it will not replace self-service tills with manned units – but will ensure the remaining old-fashioned checkouts are readily staffed more often

Asda boss Michael Gleeson says the supermarket has found ‘the right balance’ between traditional checkouts and modern scanning such as ‘scan and go’ handsets (above)

He told the Telegraph: ‘I think we have reached a level of self-checkouts and scan-and-go where we feel that works best for our customers.

‘We have invested additional hours in manned checkouts and that’s been within the existing physical infrastructure (of the stores). It’s not more checkouts, it’s more colleagues on checkouts.’

The supermarket may be hoping a promise to better man its remaining tills will entice customers back as it loses its grip on the market.

It is battling for supremacy with Tesco, which has more than double the market share, and German discounter Aldi, which is eating away at its customer base.

Data from market analysts Kantar shows Asda’s market share has fallen from 13.7 per cent to 12.7 between the start of the year and July, while Lidl, Aldi and the Co-op have all enjoyed a surge in customers.

Alongside the £30m investment in staff hours, Asda is spending £50m on sprucing up some of its stores and says its Asda Rewards loyalty app is being used in more than half of all transactions.

The chain is also expanding into a network of smaller convenience stores in the same mould as competitors such as Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local, including at petrol stations.

Mr Gleeson added separately: ‘We… know that there are some areas where we can and need to improve. 

‘We have today set out clear and decisive action to deliver a more consistent customer experience – to match the uncompromising value we offer.’

But there is a growing rebellion against the use of self-service tills in British supermarkets – with one independent chain, Booths, dropping them from all but two of its stores.

Bosses at supermarkets including Sainsbury’s and Tesco have tried to claim shoppers love using the self-service tills despite their widespread unpopularity and the ever-present fear of an ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’.

Earlier this year, Sainsbury’s boss Simon Roberts claimed ‘a lot of customers like the speedy checkout’ despite the chain imposing security gates that require shoppers to scan their receipts in order to exit, in a bid to combat shoplifting. 

Last year, a MailOnline poll found four out of five readers prefer staffed checkouts to self-service tills.

And earlier this year, amid anger at Marks & Spencer’s seemingly unusable self-service machines, we sent a reporter to try a whole host of supermarket DIY scanners in order to find out which was fastest.