According to a new report from Swish and HUI Research, self-service continues to gain market share in retail. The growth of 7 percent in 2025 can be compared to 4.4 percent for total retail. A clear trend is the increase in purchases via stores' own apps. In 2025, sales via store apps grew by 30 to 50 percent.
The growth is rapid in many places and is very reminiscent of the e-commerce growth in retail ten years ago, the report states.
Usage is particularly widespread among young people, where 38 percent use apps in grocery shopping.
E-Commerce Sets Customer Expectations
The report highlights how physical retail is increasingly influenced by consumers' digital habits. John Helmér at Apoteket notes in the report that expectations for physical retail are largely shaped online.
E-commerce has long had the advantage of lacking queues, which is why physical retail is now integrating digital solutions and checkout options to create a more frictionless experience. At the same time, stores are leveraging their unique competitive advantages over e-commerce. In the physical store, the product is available immediately without waiting or shipping, and the customer can receive qualified advice on the spot.
Staff Increases Despite Automation
Two common concerns about increased self-service are that it leads to layoffs and increased shrinkage. The report shows the opposite. Between 2022 and 2024, the number of employees in retail increased by 6.3 percent, according to statistics from SCB. Just over 80 percent of retailers in the survey also state that staff have been given more varied tasks and are more satisfied.
Self-service does not mean that staff disappear, but that they can work in a different way in the store, says Charlotta Lindblad, Head of Marketing & Communication at Swish.
Regarding shrinkage, almost 9 out of 10 retailers state that shrinkage related to self-service is manageable and that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. The report emphasizes that self-service itself is not the cause of shrinkage. About one-third of shrinkage is of an administrative nature, for example, goods that are broken.