Morrisons is to offer customers a deliberately “slower” checkout experience to customers, as part of a new campaign designed to combat loneliness.
Colleagues manning the dedicated ‘Talking Tills’ will intentionally scan and pack items more slowly, while talking to the customer as much as they would like. The hope is that it creates “meaningful moments” for shoppers who may be feeling lonely, or just want to talk about their day.
The tills will be signposted, and will operate alongside Morrisons’ regular manned tills and self-service checkout options.
The temporary initiative – which runs in all Morrisons stores from 4 to 7 December – is part of Good Morning Britain’s One Million Minutes campaign to fight loneliness.
“At Morrisons, supporting the communities we serve is at the heart of what we do,” said David Scott, Morrisons corporate affairs director.
“We know that for many people, especially at this time of year, a simple conversation can make a real difference. The Talking Tills campaign is designed to create space for those meaningful moments, offering customers the chance to slow down and chat if they’d like to.”
Morrisons has not said if it intends to introduce the initiative permanently.
Supermarkets have been slowly stripping out manned tills from their stores over the past decade in order to cut costs and speed up the shopping journey.
While a majority of customers are generally happy to use self-service checkouts (if they work), there has been growing pushback from others who argue that it has come at a cost to shopper experience, particularly for older or lonely customers.
Read more: What shoppers really think about self-checkout machines revealed
Morrisons – which overindexes in older shoppers compared to its traditional big four rivals – is among a number of supermarkets that have began reassessing their self-checkout rollouts.
“Morrisons went a bit too far with the self-checkout,” CEO Rami Baitiéh told The Telegraph in August 2024. “This had the advantage of driving some productivity. However, some shoppers dislike it.”
Premium supermarket chain Booths has gone much further. As exclusively revealed by The Grocer in November 2023, it has stripped out self-checkouts from all but two of its busiest supermarkets.
Booths managing director Nigel Murray later revealed to The Grocer in April 2025, that Booths’ had less shrinkage, faster service and more satisfied customers after switching back to more manned tills.
“In the 10 years since we launched our One Million Minutes campaign, we have brought together thousands of volunteers with thousands of people experiencing loneliness and isolation around the UK,” said Daniel Robinson, editor of Good Morning Britain.
“This year feels more urgent than ever, with rising prices in the shops and pressure on families, it’s so easy to feel disconnected,” Robinson added.
“We all know what it feels like to feel lonely. And whether it’s a family member, a friend, a neighbour or a stranger, pledging just a few minutes of time can really make a difference. Our viewers have been immensely generous with their time over the years and I know this December is going to be something really special.”
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