Dutch Supermarket Plans "Chat Checkouts" to Fight Loneliness

Dutch supermarket chain, Jumbo, plans to help fight loneliness by opening "chat checkouts" in 200 of its stores over the next 12 months.

The new checkouts will allow customers to stop and chat instead of just paying for their items and leaving.

Jumbo opened its first "chat checkout" in the small town of Vlijmen in the south of the Netherlands in 2019. It was part of an effort to support a Dutch government campaign to reduce loneliness among older people.

Customers liked the "chat checkout" so much; Jumbo now plans to open more of them in areas where loneliness is a problem. Some of the stores will also have a "chat corner" where people can stop for a conversation and a coffee.

"Our stores are an important meeting place for many people and we want to play a role in identifying and reducing loneliness," said Colette Cloosterman-van Eerd, Jumbo's Chief Customer Officer.

She said opening the "chat checkouts" was a small but important thing to do in a world that's moving faster and faster.

Some stores, like Amazon Go in the US and the UK, don't even have checkouts. Instead, Amazon's technology allows customers to scan a phone app when they walk in, take what they want, and go. Customers don't need to talk to any staff. And more supermarkets are thinking of following this idea.

Loneliness is a growing problem, however, with almost one in five people around the world saying they always or often feel alone, according to a 2020 study from The Ad Council in the US.

Questions

1. How many "chat checkouts" does Jumbo plan to open?

2. According to the article, how many people around the world say they "always or often" feel alone?

3. Why did Jumbo decide to open the "chat checkouts"?

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