Well, it's the option.

Retailers that compete on "experience" like Target etc will reinvest into a better customer experience.

Retailers that compete on price like Aldis will focus solely on driving cost down.

> The benefit is a much better customer experience, not labor savings.

The primary benefit is access to a lot better data about shoppers, not a better customer experience.

I'll choose the store where I can grab what I want and walk out over the store where I have to wait in a dumb ass line while the cashier yells for a price check and the customer in front of me can't remember her PIN so slowly counts out nickels and quarters.

It's a massive competitive advantage far beyond whatever data they get by watching me roam the store.