British supermarket chain Booth's is leading the way, removing them in all 28 of its stores. Managing director Nigel Murray said: "Our customers have told us this over time — that the self-scan machines that we've got in our stores … can be slow, they can be unreliable (and) they're obviously impersonal."

"Some customers don't know one different apple versus another, for example. There's all sorts of fussing about with that and then the minute you put any alcohol in your basket somebody's got to come and check that you're of the right age," he added.

The report says that at Booths, customers often incorrectly identified the fruits and vegetables they were purchasing at self-checkout stations. Additionally, buying alcohol via self-checkout encountered difficulties as it required staff intervention for age verification.