I frequently hop between Spain and the UK. Self-checkout is ubiquitous in the UK and people seem to almost universally favor using it, manned tills are a minority and generally reserved for larger purchases. In Spain it's quite the opposite: manned tills are a majority and people _actively_ avoid using self-checkout, even when it means going through a much longer queue.
I found it an interesting cultural difference, and I can't help but wonder to which extent it's influenced by the preference for human interaction in both countries.
I'm American, but i have a serious preference for self-checkout because I can avoid tje annoyances of regular check out. Waiting on the person who forgot their wallet. That person who wants to argue about one dollar on a one hundred dollar purchase. The person who realized they bought to much and now needs to figure what they want to put back. And more.
Cashiers are nice, I guess. But stores are not a social call for me. I want to buy my stuff and not deal with ridiculous people in front of me.
Also self-checkouts just move faster. This probably wouldn't be true if stores had the same number of cashiers they used to, but it really reminds me of mu youth where you could be in and out of a store without a significant wait to check out.
I lived in France for a bit and the stores were completely different. Speedy and plentiful lines, so that's probably the difference between Spain and the UK
I'm also American. I'll jump for the self checkout if there is an open one, but if there is a line for self-checkout, I'm going for a register. The self-checkout lines move so much slower than the regular cashier lines, because people get hung up on things and have to ask for help.
I found it an interesting cultural difference, and I can't help but wonder to which extent it's influenced by the preference for human interaction in both countries.