Today, consumers often take on the job of cashiers in retail stores. Scanning products and paying independently – this has long been part of everyday life for many customers in many places. This is the result of an analysis by the retail research institute EHI, which is available to the German press agency dpa.
According to the analysis, customers can already take advantage of corresponding offers in more than 5,000 stores across Germany; two years ago the number was 2,310. The trend is clearly increasing. “In ten years, around every third supermarket will have self-service checkouts,” predicts EHI expert Frank Horst. An overview of the most important results of the study:
Two systems in particular have become established: Using self-service cash registers, also known as self-checkout cash registers, customers can swipe their purchases through the scanner and pay for them, without any staff. There is also the variant of mobile self-scanning.
After registering, consumers can scan the products as they walk through the supermarket – with specially equipped shopping carts, hand scanners or via an app on their smartphone (“Scan
According to EHI, stationary self-checkout offers in particular have increased significantly in recent years. The retail sector currently has around 16,000 self-service checkouts (2021: 7,240) in a total of 4,270 stores (2021: 1,687). In supermarkets, where the technology is used particularly frequently, there are 9,600 of the modern checkouts spread across 2,600 stores.
That’s an average of 3.7 self-service checkouts per branch. The market share is therefore around 7.5 percent. Self-service checkouts are most commonly found at Rewe and Edeka, where more than 750 stores are each equipped accordingly. The technology has long been used not only in supermarkets, but also at Bauhaus, Rossmann, Decathlon and Ikea, among others.
When self-service checkouts were introduced, the option of paying in cash at the terminals was still widespread. In 2021, customers were still able to pay for their purchases in cash in 76 percent of supermarkets with self-service checkouts; this is currently only possible in 44 percent of branches. More and more companies are foregoing the use of cash payment modules when setting up new systems. Some retailers continue to rely on this because customers explicitly request it.
Less space required, shorter waiting times: these advantages of self-service checkouts are mentioned particularly frequently by companies. When the first self-service checkouts were opened years ago, there were also critical reactions. Why will we still need cashiers in the future? Today the view has changed. Like many industries, retail is also struggling with significant staffing problems. “Our need for staff for our stores is increasing every year, while there are fewer and fewer applications for sales positions,” says a Rewe spokesman.
The self-service cash registers provided relief and flexibility in personnel planning. Frank Horst, the author of the EHI study, sees this as “a main driver for the spread of the systems”. Customer acceptance has increased significantly. But self-service checkouts also have a disadvantage. According to the EHI study, the risk of theft increases with increasing distribution and use. This forces companies to make technical upgrades in the checkout area – such as exit gates, camera surveillance and weight checks using scales.
The number of stores with self-service offerings is likely to increase significantly in the future. According to the company, one in two people in many Rewe stores now pay for their purchases at a self-service checkout. Self-service checkouts have long been standard when remodeling or opening new branches. Significant growth can still be expected among discounters.
Aldi Süd had already announced at the beginning of the year that it wanted to rely more heavily on self-service checkouts, especially in large cities. Aldi Nord and Lidl are also testing similar systems. Will conventional cash registers disappear completely in the foreseeable future? Frank Horst from EHI doesn’t expect that. Some people still reject self-service checkouts and retailers don’t want to lose customers.
