Retailers Should Offer Coupons to Boost Self Checkout

I was waiting on line at the Supermarket last week and noticed most people were not using the self checkout. In fact the line was 3 or 4 deep at the cashier checkouts, while only 2 of the 4 self checkouts were being used. While many grocery retailers have invested heavily in self checkout to reduce labor costs, they don't appear to have thought out a good marketing plan to get consumers to use them. From a consumer point of view, yes you can sometimes save time if the regular lines are pretty long or if you only have a few items, but it's more work than a regular check out. How about rewarding the consumer who uses the self checkout?

If the retailers are really saving on labor costs, why not use a portion of the savings to incentivize the consumer to use the self checkout by offering coupons to those who use it? This would significantly increase the percentage of customers who use the self checkout, further reducing costs. In fact, you could even have brands chip in some dollars for sponsorship (for example use the self checkout this week and get a 50 cent coupon for Chip Ahoy cookies that you can use on your next shopping trip). Another option would be to tie it to the store loyalty card - i.e. Use self checkout 5 times this month and get double points all next month.

What are your thoughts?