The findings are based on a shopper survey conducted by HRC Retail Advisory and highlights the challenges retail chains increasingly face as they try to find the right balance between staffing and technology in stores.

For example, about 85 percent of those surveyed want to be able to check prices at price scanners instead of having to ask a store employee for pricing information. Seventy six percent of overall respondents rated an in-store app that will provide personal recommendations as important.

"It's not that they don't want any service at all, but what consumers increasingly want is to be able to control the service they are looking for," Farla Efros, president of HRC Retail Advisory, told Reuters.