TIC | 株式会社東京コンサルティング研究所

Self-checkout should spread

Self-checkout, which mainly introduced by food supermarkets and restaurants, has recently started among major convenience stores. The self-checkout system is a system in which the customer operates a cash register and pays for the product. It was popularized in the United States in the 1990s. In Japan, the demonstration experiment started in 2003. Self-checkout is divided into full self-checkout and semi-self-checkout where customers only pay for the checkout. The benefits of self-checkout are listed below. First, the introduction of self-checkout at restaurants and supermarkets can appeal their hygiene condition to the customers because the staffs of these stores have less access to cash. Next, the self-checkout helps reduce labor costs and partially solved the problem of labor shortage in Japan. Since the cash register operation is performed by the customer, labor costs can be reduced accordingly. Finally, the introduction of a self-checkout can reduce the checkout waiting time. However, there are many people who do not know how to use the checkout machine at the beginning. Therefore, an assistant for operation explanation is required, which may take time at first. From the above, self-checkout has many merits, and it is considered that it can be used conveniently if it overcomes the difficulties in the initial stage. We will pay attention to the future evolution of self-checkout.