Shoppers claim Tesco has gone too far with new ‘dystopian’ checkout feature

Posted by author March 7, 2025 Shopping

Tesco is trialling a new checkout feature (Picture: Alex Segre/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Tesco shoppers in Gateshead might notice something rather unusual in their local supermarket next time they nip down to do the weekly shop.

That’s because the retailer is trialling a brand new feature at one of its Scan as you Shop checkouts. New trolley and basket scales have been installed as part of this, in the Tesco Extra store at Gateshead Trinity Square.

Those who use Scan as you Shop simply pick up a handset upon entering the store and scan the barcode of each item as they put it in their basket or trolley. At the end of the shop they pack everything as usual, and scan a barcode on the till to pay for everything.

Shoppers can be randomly selected for a ‘service check’ during this process to ensure everything is working properly.

The new scales, which some feel look rather ‘dystopian’, are intended to identify unscanned or overscanned items in a shop and alert shoppers to anything they’ve missed, or scanned incorrectly.

According to Tesco, this will reduce the number of manual service checks colleagues have to carry out, as well as reducing queuing times at the tills.

But while it sounds like it should be a positive thing for customers, social media users aren’t so sure about the change – and it’s fair to say the machines are causing a bit of a stir.

A snap of the new scales was shared on Reddit, showing that customers have to pass across them, before heading on to the self-checkout machines.

People didn’t hold back their thoughts in response to the image, with a user known as u/Blueberrym_ writing: ‘Am I at border control or f***ing Tesco?’ To which u/Chungaroo22 joked: ‘No clubcard? DEPORTED!’

Similarly, someone else referred to it as ‘airport core’ and u/Courtneysmaryjane said: ‘Come for the shopping, stay for the full body scan! Wtf.’

After other recent changes to supermarket checkouts, some thought this move was taking things ‘too far’. A user known as u/EcstaticPermission54 commented: ‘This is all going too far now. Can we not go back to mainly staffed tills and just have the odd couple self service for 10 items or less?’

And u/ContributionClean494 thought the machines had a ‘very dystopian feel’ about them, adding: ‘Hoping that the general public will vote with their feet but going on the nonsense in 2020 doubt it!’

However, not everyone has taken issue with the trial. Over on X it was hailed as ‘a good thing’ by @horne_andy who posted: ‘This is a good thing right. Weight is right, therefore no colleague stopping you and sense checking items and I’m out the door faster with no hassle. Frees the colleagues up to focus on the people with discrepancies in weight.’

@BryanRobers72 thought it was ‘sad’ it had come to this, but admitted the move ‘made sense’, while @znighab agreed, saying: ‘I suppose it helps not having to do a rescan of the trolley unless there’s a mismatch in weight.’

Several other supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s and M&S, have also recently divided shoppers by making big changes to their checkouts.

M&S has been trialling new smart checkouts that calculate how much you owe, without you lifting a finger.

This change means all you have to do is place your items on the till, which can identify what you’ve put down and how much everything costs, thanks to a chip embedded in each product’s price tag.

The till then instantly calculates the total price and shoppers pay as normal – no scanning required.

The retailer also announced they’d be putting self-service tills in the changing rooms so customers don’t have to queue twice – both to try on clothes, and then pay.

While at the end of 2024, Sainsbury’s started testing out larger hybrid self-checkouts which feature conveyor belts as well as a bagging area. These are similar to the regular manned tills which you place all your groceries onto, but without cashiers. Shoppers would scan their own items, as usual at self-service.

The bigger tills are intended to allow customers with trolleys to use self-service with ease, and the change comes after the CEO Simon Roberts’ shared plans to make Sainsbury’s stores ‘more efficient’.

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