Britain's best supermarket scanners REVEALED: Thousands have their say and ... trends now
MailOnline readers have crowned Britain's best supermarket scanners after we compared self-checkouts - which became retail's hot potato this week, with customers split over their potential benefits.
Marks & Spencer was slated on Tuesday as their devices were branded 'the worst ever experienced'.
We asked readers which supermarkets had the best self-scan checkouts, and while the competition between some shops was tight, a clear winner appears to have emerged.
Tesco took the top spot, with 1,064 out of 4,209 voters - or one quarter - voting it the best experience at the checkout - which concurred with MailOnline's research.
Aldi came in second with 738 (18 per cent) and Sainsbury's came in a close third with 691 (16%). In third was Waitrose with 466 (11%) votes, and M&S came fourth with 358 (9%). Asda came fifth with 286 (7%) votes and Lidl came sixth with 253 (6%). Co-op was in seven place with 187 (4%) votes, and Morrisons was in last place with 166 (4%).
The supermarkets MailOnline readers think have the best self-scanners in the United Kingdom
The gadgets have become popular because in theory putting groceries through them by hand could save time for the shopper keen to make a quick exit.
But the soulless machines lack a personal touch, no matter which friendly voice they may have had programmed.
And if an item fails to scan, the whole procedure could last even longer than the traditional way - and that's before any efforts to purchase a reusable bag.
With modern life making any free time more valuable than ever it means it has never been more important to optimise the shopping experience.
To help readers with their decision on where to self-scan, MailOnline took to the streets to find out which ones deserve to be considered first.
Armed with just a purse, a stopwatch and a shopping list of five items - milk, bread, eggs, apples and biscuits - reporter Freya Barnes investigated.
Marks & Spencer - Cost of shop £7
The speed test was carried out on seven of the UK's well-known supermarkets using the same items
Marks & Spencer had been criticised over its self-checkout tills but was not the slowest one
The customer self-service checkout till and digital bar code scanner previously used at M&S
Upon approaching the self-checkouts at M&S a familiar sense of dread washed over me, 'here we go again', I thought.
Shoppers have complained about the scanners not working properly, so I was not looking forward to the procedure.
Every time I scanned an item the machine decided it needed a moment to think about it.
I had to stand there like a prize plum, waving a bottle of milk around in all sorts of directions pleading with that little red light to acknowledge it.
When my abstract dance performance was over, it was time to pay.
This is the part I usually hate because why do I have to press so many buttons just to tap my card?
M&S, I love you but you ask too many questions.
But in total it took me one minute and eleven seconds to process and pay for my little shopping haul.
Not as bad as I thought but also not the best of the day.
Self-scanning checkout time: 1 minute, 11 seconds
Sainsbury's - Cost of shop £6.70 (No eggs)
Sainsbury's had run out of one of the items needed but the self-scanner performed very well
Sainsbury's self-scan was nearly the quickest but the scales on the machine cost it seconds
Shoppers use self-checkout counters in a Sainsbury's supermarket in May last year in Bath
Next up was Sainsburys who, to my horror and disdain, didn't have any eggs.
I had to make sure I was hearing the shop assistant correctly when he told me they had ran out. How can a supermarket run out of eggs?
However, the self-service checkout in Sainsburys was smooth and speedy at a cool 43 seconds.
This was despite the carrier bags being inconveniently placed and the assistant - who was being pulled from pillar to post.
They had to tap a few buttons on my screen to fix an issue with an item not being acknowledged by the scales but it was still quick.
Self-scanning checkout time: 46 seconds
Waitrose - Cost of shop £9.50
Bag nightmare experienced by Freya meant the self-scanning system was thrown into chaos
