Traditional Checkout

Once self-checkout systems are fully developed, why should retailers continue to use traditional checkouts at all?

If there's a problem with checkouts, why not just sit it out and put all capacity into developing fully automated stores and better self-checkout tills? For all the love of progress, it doesn't look like the fully automated supermarket is going to be profitable anytime soon and even though the number of self-checkout and scan-and-go solutions has almost quadrupled since 2017, traditional checkouts are still very popular despite the Corona pandemic.

A key factor here, besides simple cash payment, is the power of habit. 80% of consumers surveyed by the EHI Retail Institute said they would prefer to pay at traditional checkouts to maintain a bit of normality amidst the madness.

As long as this remains the case and the installation of self-checkout tills requires a large investment, the conventional checkout will remain with us.

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98% of cash registers in Germany are still manned by people and a significant part of the process times takes place at the checkout. Every optimisation in the checkout process offers the potential for creating significant added value for a long time.

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