If AI takes over, will those without access to the latest smartphone be barred from the great supermarket melting pot? Will lonely older people lose their friendly chat with the cashier, which could be their only conversation of the day?

Research backs up the retailers’ hunch about our frustrations with shopping. A recent survey by packaging company DS Smith found that more than a third of 2,000 people polled would walk out of the store rather than wait five minutes in a checkout queue, and 46% said they were so irritated by queuing that they would consider not coming back to the shop again.

Laura Saunter, a senior retail analyst at the consumer trends analytic firm WGSN, says supermarkets have spent years trying to bust queues because they are the customers’ “number one pain point”.

Many of us are now so impatient that waiting a few minutes for a checkout assistant to become free can feel like an unacceptable hassle in a world where technology dominates and instant gratification is expected.