Business Insider reports that we can “add Dollar General to the list of retailers rethinking their self-checkout strategies as they head into the new year.
“The discount retailer said Thursday it will beef up staffing in its stores’ checkout areas after the company reported slowing sales growth and rising rates of missing inventory, or shrink.
“‘While self-checkout has contributed to the convenient proposition for our customers in certain stores, it does not reduce the importance of a friendly, helpful employee who is there to greet customers and assist while the checkout process is happening,’ Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said on the company’s quarterly earnings call.
“Vasos said Dollar General is budgeting $150 million in additional labor hours, as well as reallocating $50 million from the ‘smart teams’ unit to cover the added staffing expenses. Dollar General implemented ‘smart teams’ as a roving crew of workers who would visit stores to help manage inventory.”
KC’s View:
It is a somewhat ironic that this is happening right now, and that Dollar General is ascribing the move to theft, since it has been getting some heat for operating a lot of substandard stores where a lack of staff is creating a mess of an experience that can be unsafe for the few employees working there.
Is this really about dealing with shrink? Or is it just a convenient way to add some staff without having to admit to operational issues, but rather blame the move (which may increase costs) on outside forces?
Mark me down as skeptical of official explanations.
The post Dollar General Adding Staff, Saying It Is Addressing Shrink appeared first on MNB.
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