An estimated 1.4 million older people report feeling lonely. Not so long ago popping out for an hour or so may have led to any number of human interactions. For some older people, these would be the only human interactions that they’d have. However, with the ever-increasing rise of digital customer service touchpoints, these vital human interactions are disappearing leading to an increase in loneliness for older people.

Darlington train station is, like many others, facing the loss of staffed ticket offices.  Mark Brown in The Guardian writes about the introduction of automated ticket machines: ‘Pauline Skerrett, 83, lives in Newton Aycliffe and travels regularly to Saltburn to see her friend. She could do the whole journey by train but can’t use the ticket machines at Newton Aycliffe. So she gets a bus to Darlington to buy a rail ticket to Saltburn from a human.

“I think closing the ticket offices is disgusting,” she said. “I’m a pensioner and I only have a basic phone. I can just dial and send texts, that’s all. I don’t have a credit card.

“The people in the ticket office are always lovely, helpful. It’s mad to close them but everything is going mad, isn’t it?”

Meanwhile, local bank branches is the focus for Fiona Gibson in The Telegraph.  She writes about her experience as the daughter of an ageing mother who’s started to experience memory loss. Her mum would forget her cash machine PIN and when she did remember it, she’d draw hundreds of pounds and walk around with it in her pockets.

“When I (the daughter) discovered this, we visited the branch together where Mum was advised to speak to counter staff whenever she needed to withdraw money. Treating her with respect and sensitivity, the staff member reassured and supported her in a way that only an actual person can.”

The Telegraph also reported that M&S were introducing hundreds of self-service tills in a cost-cutting drive while Tesco continued to expand its store trial of 100% automated tills, despite a disability awareness petition signed by more than a quarter of a million people.

But maybe the digital tide is turning. Retailers like Ikea have removed self-service checkout terminals from their stores over the past 5 years, citing these concerns as one of the major reasons.

There is also evidence that human interactions are good for business. Many retailers count on cashiers to upsell customers on accessories, extended warranties, and better products. By eliminating the one-on-one interaction, it’s not possible to upsell. Added to that is the possibility that diminished interaction with staff may lead to customers feeling less of a personal connection with or loyalty to the store/brand.

Good customer service relies on personal interaction, which builds trust and loyalty with the customer. So not only is human interaction invaluable in reducing an older person’s feeling of loneliness that comes with those personal daily customer service interactions, but it can also be commercially viable too. Something to think about as we move toward an ever more digitised world.