Nearly 40% of UK shoppers either ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ that retailers offering self-checkout (SCO) technology provide better customer service, according to a new international survey.

The report by NCR Corporation found that 89% of UK shoppers use self-checkouts to some degree. Of those respondents, 68% said they used SCO when they had just a few items and 49% said it was when they thought cashier lines were too long.

Furthermore, 32% of UK shoppers said they would most like to have access to SCO in convenience stores.

The top four suggestions for improving self-checkout included a larger bagging area (53%), an attendant always available to assist (43%), making it easier to purchase produce sold by weight (35%) and making it easier to scan bulky or heavy items (27%).

“With self-checkout installations forecast to grow 83% in Western Europe between 2013 and 2018, the trend supports our findings that self-checkout technology is providing value to many consumers and major retailers in the region,” says Dusty Lutz, general manager self-checkout solutions at NCR Retail Division.

“Our research in the UK confirms this trend with 89% of those polled in UK using self-checkouts to some degree, and nearly half of them associating self-checkout technology with better customer service.”

Of the 11% who never use SCO, 61% prefer cashier assistance and 31% also feel like they are doing the work for the retailer.

NCR is a supplier of self-checkout technology.

Research by HIM found that staff friendliness is the second biggest driver to c-stores after location.