Latest Self-Checkout Solutions Offer Convenience and Efficiency to Attract More Shoppers

Several retailers have deployed Instacart's Caper Carts, which allow customers to scan and pay for products without waiting in line at checkout. — McKeevers

Why it matters:

Nearly four in five consumers (79.3%) use self-checkout regularly, according to a recent CapitalOne Shopping Research report.
Consumers appreciate the speed of self-checkout, according to NCR Voyix, which found that 70% of shoppers surveyed said they chose self-checkout over staffed lanes because it was faster.
As a result, retailers continue to invest in new self-checkout solutions such in-app checkouts, product-scanning smart carts, and item count limits to enhance the operational efficiency, meet the demands of their customers, and minimize theft.

Retailers are evolving their self-checkout strategies, in many cases leveraging advanced scanning technology and artificial intelligence. They are seeking to derive efficiencies and increase customer satisfaction through these labor-saving solutions while also addressing concerns about retail theft.

Consumers—especially young shoppers—have come to expect self-checkout at retail stores, and many consider it faster and more convenient than attended checkout. A recent CapitalOne Shopping Research report noted that 73% of shoppers prefer self-checkout, and 79.3% use self-checkout regularly. The report also projected that the market for self-checkout technology in North America will more than double during the next five years, reaching $5.43 billion in 2030, up from an estimated $2.63 billion in 2025.

Speed of checkout is one of consumers’ primary reasons for choosing self-checkout, according to a recent report from technology solutions provider NCR Voyix. The company’s research found that 70% of shoppers surveyed said they chose self-checkout over staffed lanes because it was faster. Nearly half (46%) said they prefer self-checkout because they like to bag their own items, and 36% said they opt to do it themselves because the lines are shorter.

Meanwhile, theft continues to be a concern for retailers offering self-checkout. A Lending Tree survey of 2,000 consumers found that 15% of self-checkout users have purposely stolen an item and that 44% of those who have stolen items planned to do so again.

In fact, a few large retailers have removed self-checkout from some of their stores, including Walmart, which eliminated self-checkout machines in a handful of locations last year. While those moves generated some headlines, the retail industry appears determined to make self-checkout work with a variety of strategies that seek to minimize theft, optimize efficiency, and cater to their shoppers’ preferences.

Following are some of that ways that retailers are seeking to turn self-checkout in a win-win for both businesses and consumers.

We’ve engaged in some ‘Scan & Go done by Costco’ kind of tests that have been extremely successful moving people through the lines and expediting the transactions. Ron Vachris, CEO of Costco

Retailers such as Target enforce a limit on number of items to speed checkout

Some retailers have made efforts to move their customers through checkout faster by enforcing a limit on the number of items consumers can purchase in self-checkout lanes. This seeks to reduce the bottlenecks that can occur at self-checkout lanes and makes them easier for store employees to monitor.

For example, last year, Target launched a 10-item limit in self-checkout lanes and renamed the service “Express Self-Checkout.” The efforts, combined with a new employee training initiative, have yielded positive results, the company said in a recent blog post.

The introduction of Express Self-Checkout has improved checkout times at both self-checkout and staffed lanes by 8%, the company said. Customers have also reported better checkout experiences overall, whichever option they choose. Target’s Net Promoter Score (NPS, a measure of customer experience) for checkout has improved by five points for wait times and by three points for interaction with employees.

“Express Self-Checkout has been a great success … with both our guests and team members seeing the benefits,” the retailer said.

Other retailers that have recently set new limits on self-checkout items include discounter Five Below and grocery retailer Schnucks.

The mobile-app solution: Putting self-checkout in the palm of customers’ hands

Another variation of self-checkout puts the entire checkout process—or most of it in many cases—in the palm of customers’ hands.

Mobile app–based checkout, which has been available in various forms for several years, gained some traction during the pandemic, with mixed results. More recently, app-based checkout has gained more attention with the announcement that Sam’s Club, the Walmart-owned warehouse-club retailer, is rolling out its latest Scan & Go checkout system at all of its 600-plus locations in the United States.

Sam's Club rolled out technology that uses sensors and AI to verify that customers have scanned all the items in their cart using the Scan & Go app. — Sam's Club

The system leverages the retailer’s Scan & Go mobile app, which shoppers use to scan items as they shop and pay for their purchases automatically, without the use of a self-checkout lane at all. The app has been available to members of the warehouse club since 2016, but Sam’s Club said it is now using AI-powered scanning technology to verify the content of shopping carts, which eliminates the need for employees to visually compare shoppers’ paper receipts to the content in their carts.

Sam’s Club’s two major rivals, Costco and BJ’s, have self-checkout apps of their own that they’ve been promoting to their customers. In addition to eliminating the need to wait in lines at checkout, the apps also off other features, such as product location and access to coupons and promotions.

In Costco’s recent fiscal third-quarter conference call with investors, CEO Ron Vachris said the company has been testing digital technologies to improve the speed of checkout.

“We’ve engaged in some ‘Scan & Go done by Costco’ kind of tests that have been extremely successful moving people through the lines and expediting the transactions,” he said.

Some “very, very early” results have been positive, and member adoption has also been encouraging, he said.

Amazon’s ‘Just Walk Out’ tech still has legs; in test mode at WHSmith North America

High-tech checkout solutions that use cameras and other monitors to record shoppers’ purchases are also expanding, despite some early challenges. Amazon’s aptly named Just Walk Out technology, for example, has proven to be successful at small retail stores where customers are pressed for time, such as in airports and sports venues and at student halls on college campuses, according to the company.

With the Just Walk Out platform, customers generally scan a credit card when they enter the store, and a system of sensors and cameras monitors which items they select and leave the store with. Amazon last year said it had plans to double the number of third-party stores using Just Walk Out. Among the retailers testing the technology is WHSmith North America, which operates retail stores in airports. It debuted Just Walk Out at a location in New York’s LaGuardia Airport in 2022.

The technology appears to be gaining traction in small stores where customers are buying a limited number of items—like a bottle of water or a box of popcorn—but it has yet to prove itself in bigger, more complicated shopping trips such as a weekly grocery shop at a full-scale grocery store.

The entry of a WHSmith outlet at an airport. The entry is flanked by two LED screens showing how to use WHSmith's "Just Walk Out" automatic checkout system. The entry is partially blocked by grating, one portion of which has a round sign that reads "JUST WALK OUT Shopping." Three gates leads into the store itself; two of the gates are green and labeled "Insert Card to Enter," and third gate is red, to stop shoppers from entering through an exit. Inside, a couple dozen cameras and sensors hang from the store's ceiling to capture people's purchases. The store's walls and floor displays are filled with shelves of snacks, drinks, electronic chargers, headphones, and other travel necessities. — **WHSmith is one of the retailers that have deployed Amazon's Just Walk Out technology that enables frictionless checkout.** — Eamonn Conway

Smart carts, ‘self-checkout on wheels,’ are on a roll

Sometimes described as “self-checkout on wheels,” so-called smart carts use a combination of sensors, built-in scales, and cameras to automatically scan items as customers shop. They also incorporate interactive touch screens and features that enable digital payments in order to smooth the checkout process.

Instacart, the third-party grocery delivery specialist, has rolled out a smart cart called Caper Cart that allows brands and retailers to promote products to customers as they shop, among other features. Customers can also see a running tally of their purchases, sync with their digital shopping list, and search for products’ locations in the store. The carts have been tested or rolled out at several grocery chains, including Schnucks and Save Mart.

Amazon, meanwhile, as its own version of smart carts called Dash Carts, which it has deployed in its 65 Amazon Fresh grocery stores in lieu of Just Walk Out technology. The company is also testing the technology in a handful of its Whole Foods Market locations. When customers are done shopping, they simply push their carts through special, sensor-equipped Dash Cart lanes, and then bag their own groceries.

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