Self-checkout

NCR Corporation model of self-service checkouts and fast-lane at a Sainsbury's store.

NCR Corporation model of self-service checkout at an IKEA store.

Self-checkouts (SCOs), also known as assisted checkouts (ACOs) or self-service checkouts, are machines that provide a mechanism for customers to complete their own transaction from a retailer without needing a traditional staffed checkout. When using SCOs, customers scan item barcodes before paying for their total shop without needing one-to-one staff assistance. Self-checkouts are used mainly in supermarkets, although they aren't uncommon in department or convenience stores.^[1] Most self-checkout areas are supervised by at least one staff member, often assisting customers process transactions, correcting prices, or otherwise providing service.

As of 2013, there were 191,000 self-checkout units deployed across the globe, and by 2025, it is predicted that 1.2 million units will be installed worldwide.^[2][3] The machines were originally invented by David R. Humble, with NCR Corporation having the largest market share.^[4][5]

Typical systems[]

In self-checkout systems, the customer is typically required to:

• Scan product barcodes where these exist
• Weigh products (such as fresh produce) without barcodes and select the variety on a touchscreen display.
• Place all scanned items into a "bagging area". The weight observed in the bagging area is verified against previously stored information to ensure that the correct item is bagged, allowing the customer to proceed only if the observed and expected weights match.

There is normally at least one supervising staff member who will assist customers when required, authorise the sale of age-restricted products such as medicines, alcohol, knives and tobacco, remove or de-sensitize electronic article surveillance devices, and provide additional loss prevention and customer service.^[6]

A semi-random selection of customers is generally selected for a manual scan by supervising staff member to scare off shoplifters. Customers are selected for further scanning by algorithms which can take into account their previous shopping history, time spent in store or at checkout, and specific high-risk products bought.^[7]

Advantages[]

One benefit to the retailer in providing self-checkout machines is in reduced labour costs: one attendant can often run four to six checkout lanes with the work of the cashier now being assumed by the customer. The size of a self-checkout machine is also smaller than a traditional checkout manned by a cashier; thus, a store can save space, which could be used for more shelves, display cabinets, or additional checkouts.^[8]

Costco began to institute self-checkout screens for their food courts in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the food court's kitchen staff to focus solely on food preparation and service. The system requires payment via debit or credit card, ending the need for customers to exchange paper money or coinage with those employees, a common vector for disease transmission.

Customers who do not want to interact with the cashier can use the self-checkout. Systems which allow payment through mobile payment or a digital wallet system allow the customer to purchase their items without having to touch any part of the system, outside the bagging area, though if they utilize returned reusable bags, it can be a completely 'touchless' experience.

Self-checkout can also sometimes be faster than using a cashier lane. This can reduce the length of checkout lines and wait times.^[9] In a 2014 survey by NCR, 42% of customers said they liked the convenience of self-checkout, while 39% said it was faster than the cashier-assisted line. 90% of those surveyed responded as being users of self-checkout, with 7% of respondents saying they will always use self-checkout regardless of store lines and number of items. Respondents in Italy and Australia said they "always use self-checkout" at a rate of 13% and 9% respectively.^[2]

One advantage is that self-checkouts can, if the necessary investment is made, provide a partly multilingual service. (It cannot be fully bilingual unless the goods themselves are labelled in all the relevant languages, which is often not the case.) For example, Tesco's Welsh stores which can serve customers in Welsh,^[10] whereas finding enough fluent Welsh-speakers as staff can be difficult because in some areas only a small proportion of local people have Welsh as their first language.^[11]

Disadvantages[]

In 2002, a study was carried out where people with disabilities used self-checkout machines, and found that existing checkout machines were not designed for accessibility.^[12]

Noise pollution[]

Customers often complain about the repeated robotic-sounding messages coming from self-service checkouts. In 2015, supermarket Tesco replaced the robotic announcements with more human-sounding voice prompts in response to criticism.^[13]

Retailers have been known to use novelty voices for their self-service checkouts. For example, discount store Poundland has used the voices of Yoda,^[14] Elvis Presley, Count Dracula and Father Christmas on various occasions.^[15] In 2019, Marks & Spencer replaced its regular checkout announcers with the voices of judges from that year's season of Britain's Got Talent. The new voices led to an increase in customer complaints, with many questioning the appropriateness of some of the comments.^[16]

Shoplifting[]

Self-checkout machines make it easy to shoplift. Countermeasures, such as sensors, are often annoying and ineffective.^[17]

Some supermarkets including Sainsbury's,^[18] Tesco,^[19] and Asda^[20] in the United Kingdom, have started installing monitors with CCTV screens that show customers a video of themselves using tills.^[18]

Inventory record corruption[]

As customers are not trained to scan items, they may erroneously think that promotion items, such as 'buy one, get one' only need to be scanned once. It can also occur that the customer scans a different variety of a product that has the same price. Both of these scenarios would corrupt the inventory records of the retailer.^[7]

Scanning while shopping[]

"Scan It" kiosk at Giant Food store.

An alternative system (self-scanning) consists of a portable barcode scanner that is used by the customer to scan and bag items while shopping.^[21] When the customer has finished shopping, the scanner is brought to a checkout kiosk, where the information from the barcode scanner is downloaded to the kiosk, usually in conjunction with a customer loyalty card. The customer pays and receives a receipt at the checkout kiosk. The integrity of the system is maintained through the use of random audits or RFID. The Walmart-owned warehouse club, Sam's Club, allows customers to download an app and scan items into their cart using a mobile application.^[22] In summer 2018, Walmart China launched its Wechat-based "Scan and Go" program, allowing customers to scan items into their carts without downloading another mobile app, while paying through Wechat Payment or Alipay. The "Scan and Go" program carried 30% of all payments made in Chinese stores, and even improved sales in certain markets by 10%.^[23]

In December 2016, Amazon announced a bricks and mortar store in Seattle under the name Amazon Go, which uses a variety of cameras and sensors in order to see what customers are putting into their shopping bags.^[24] The customers scan a QR code when they enter the store through a companion app, which is linked to their Amazon.com account.^[25] When the customer exits the store, the items in their bag are automatically charged to the account.^[26]

Hybrid systems[]

Suppliers like ITAB, NCR, Wincor-Nixdorf, and others have manufactured hybrid checkout systems that allows the checkout counter to be switched between either a cashier operated mode or a customer self-service mode.^[27][28]

Open-source systems[]

In 2010, the open-source-self-check project was announced. By using hardware and open source software, this library self-checkout system costs less than one-tenth of the commercial version.^[29][30]

A Java-based open source self check client for libraries, which has been used at the University of Oxford,^[31] is also available under a GPL v3 license.^[32]

RFID-based system[]

Several experimental stores in China use a combination of RFID and cameras to determine which products a customer has picked. Upon leaving, the customer passes through an RFID-reading gate and only has to pay the bill to check out.^{[33][34][35][36]}

Regulation[]

A California appeal court confirmed in September 2013, with a 2–1 majority, a law banning the sale of alcohol through self-checkouts. The law requires alcohol only to be sold in face-to-face transactions with staff members, as is mandatory for cigarettes, spray paint and some over-the-counter medication. The California Grocers Association condemned the bill, stating how SCOs already lock out alcohol, requiring store staff to verify and approve purchases of alcohol. Similarly, the court said that a previous direction from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control was of no legal affect as it was not given for discussion or public comment.^[37]

The Oregon AFL–CIO has backed a proposed ballot measure in Oregon, US to prohibit stores from operating more than two self-checkout machines.^[38]

See also[]

• Automated retailing
• Cash register
• Point of sale
• Shadow work

References[]

External links[]

• Media related to Self checkout at Wikimedia Commons