Booths, a supermarket chain in Northern England, recently announced it is closing the self-checkout lanes in most of its stores. Returning to the fully staffed way of doing business “delivers a better customer experience,” a Booths spokesman said.

The company is flying in the face of a trend that has reshaped retail shopping over the past two decades. In 2021 self-checkout usage accounted for 30% of transactions, almost double what it was in 2018, according to a survey of retailers by FMI, an industry trade group.