Tesco Is Trialling Trolley Self-Service Checkouts For Big Shops

Tesco is trialling self-service checkouts for trolleys - so you can do a big shop and avoid talking to a human.

The new checkouts are far more spacious, giving customers plenty of room to scan through a trolley's worth of grub all on their own.

The system is being trialled at the Tesco Superstore in Braintree, Essex, and a decision is yet to be made on whether it will be rolled out further.

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A Tesco spokesperson told the LADbible: "We are currently trialling a new self-service checkout option in our Braintree store in Essex, with more space around the checkout for customers to fit trolleys and their bags when they are doing a bigger shop."

The supermarket has also announced that it will repay the government the £585 million ($788 million) of business rates relief it has received during the pandemic.

It said the support was a 'game-changer' as it worked to supply customers with essential items, however, it said the business had proven 'resilient' so it had decided to repay the relief in full.

Ken Murphy, Group Chief Executive, said: "Our colleagues have done an exceptional job in responding to the challenges of the pandemic.

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"We have invested more than £725m in supporting our colleagues, putting safety first, more than doubling our online capacity to support the most vulnerable customers in our communities, and hiring thousands of additional colleagues at a time of need.

"While business rates relief was a critical support at a time of significant uncertainty, some of the potential risks we faced are now behind us.

"Every decision we've taken through the crisis has been guided by our values and a commitment to playing our part. In that same spirit, giving this money back to the public is absolutely the right thing to do by our customers, colleagues and all of our stakeholders."

Tesco had come under pressure to repay the money after it said it would pay £315 million ($424 million) to shareholders following buoyant trading during the pandemic.

Many other supermarkets - including Morrisons, Asda, Aldi, Sainsbury's and Lidl - have also repaid government rates relief.

Morrisons Chief Executive, David Potts, said: "We are grateful for the government's swift action at the start of the pandemic which enabled the whole sector to face squarely into the challenges and disruption caused by Covid-19.

"Throughout this difficult period Morrisons has done its best work to look after our colleagues, our customers and key workers, to feed the nation, to protect both the vulnerable and our smaller suppliers and to play a full and leading role in meeting the enormous challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic brought.

"I'm exceptionally proud of the way that the whole business has responded."

Topics: Food, UK News, Tesco

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey