READ THIS NEXT: Walmart and Dollar General Are Under Fire for Doing This to Customers.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Dollar General capitalizes on its low pricing to help attract and maintain its customer base. In fact, the company has recently started to advertise its $1 prices in order to better compete with Dollar Tree, Michael Montani, an analyst for investment bank company Evercore, told ABC-affiliate KAKE in Wichita, Kansas. Its $1 products are also being positioned more strategically and clearly designated with signage, the news outlet reported. But while Dollar Tree executives haven’t spoken about these moves in relation to a rivalry with Dollar Tree, they did recently comment on a different store initiative, which is currently being set in motion. Many of us love using self-checkout, quickly scanning our items, swiping a credit card, and heading out the door. Other shoppers, however, enjoy interacting with a cashier and having help with the purchasing process. If you shop at Dollar General, the latter option could soon be eliminated. As reported by Grocery Dive, the retailer is currently testing self-checkout as the only way to purchase items. The announcement came during a May 26 earnings call, with Jeff Owen, chief operating officer for Dollar General, who started that the process will be put in place at 200 stores over the course of 2022. Officials did not confirm which locations would be piloting the exclusive self-checkout model. RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. Self-checkout is currently available at 8,000 of Dollar General’s 18,356 U.S. locations, but the company hopes to push that number to 11,000 by the end of 2022, Owen said on the call. Dollar General’s change is largely attributed to increasing costs and a need to “remain attractive to its customer base,” Grocery Dive reported. “As a result of the success of self-checkout and popularity with customers, we have recently launched a pilot of stores that are entirely self-checkout,” Owen said on the call, adding that Dollar General has seen “strong customer adoption rates” by adding this option. The plan is part of Dollar General’s Fast Track Initiative, Owen said, adding that goals include “increasing labor productivity in our stores, enhancing customer convenience, and further improving on-shelf availability.” The first phase of Fast Track involved optimizing how Dollar General stores are stocked, and the second component is focused on self-checkout. According to Owen’s statement on the earnings call, Dollar General associates will still have jobs, even if the purchasing process is fully converted to self-checkout. “While our associates will remain available to assist customers if needed in these stores, we believe this 100 percent self-checkout option could further enhance the convenience proposition, while enabling our associates to dedicate even more time to serving customers,” Owen said. There will also be more Dollar General locations in need of employees, as the retailer plans to open another 1,110 new stores this year. In the first quarter of 2022 alone, 239 new Dollar General stores opened their doors. READ THIS NEXT: Don’t Buy These Products at Dollar Tree or Dollar General, New Report Warns.
