More and more retailers are using self-service checkouts: every purchase is automatically recognized without manual scanning or contact with employees. But not everyone wants to use this technology.
The customer is the one. At least that is the case with the Spanish fashion giant Bershka in the branch on Frankfurt’s Zeil shopping street. In Europe’s largest branch, Bershka is offering a futuristic shopping experience: customers simply put their items in a special cash register that automatically recognises which items are being purchased – without manual scanning and without contact with employees who take the cash or untag the goods. The customer still has to pay for the new items, untag them and pack them themselves.
With its self-service checkouts, known as self-service checkouts for short, the fashion chain is following a trend that has been evident in retail for some time. According to the research institute EHI, the number of stores with self-checkout offers has continued to rise in recent years.
More and more self-scanning
While there were 903 stores in Germany that offered self-checkout in 2019, by 2023 there were already 4,270. In addition, there are mobile self-scanning systems that work using a handheld scanner or an app on a smartphone, for example. Some stores even offer both, says retail expert Jörg Funder from Worms University of Applied Sciences. “The number of stores is now so high that it is almost nationwide.”
According to EHI, a good 60 percent of all stores with stationary self-service checkouts were in the food retail sector in 2023. In addition to Rewe and Edeka, the discounters Lidl and Aldi now also offer the service. 15 percent of self-service checkouts were recently located in drugstores and hardware and DIY stores.
Benefits for customers and retailers
The drugstore chain dm has also been offering self-service checkouts since 2022. According to the company, they are now available in more than 350 branches across Germany. In one branch in Fulda, the number was even increased this year. Two self-service checkouts have now become three. In addition, there are still two staffed checkouts. Self-checkout has been well received by customers, reports branch manager Vanessa Reinhardt. Customers of all ages use the checkouts. “At peak times, when there are more people in the branch, the self-service checkout service is used more to reduce waiting times.”
And it’s not just the customers who benefit. The staff can also redistribute capacity and provide customers with more detailed advice, says the branch manager. “With the self-service checkouts, we are definitely not cutting back on employees or reducing staff hours. Quite the opposite,” she reports.
Retail expert Jörg Funder sees further advantages for retailers: “It offers the opportunity to communicate one-on-one with the customer.” This way, retailers can encourage more purchases – also to make even more profit.
Tradition versus technology
While many retailers see advantages in self-service checkouts, others do not see them as an option. They are not cost-effective, especially for smaller shops: the shops are too small, and sales are too low. But for Holger Enick from the Fink fashion store in Fulda, this is not the main reason for foregoing the technology. The speed and independence that people expect in drugstores, for example, is not what they want here. “Because we always have personal contact. From saying hello to saying goodbye,” emphasizes Enick. His customers value the shopping experience and personal service, especially when it comes to higher-priced fashion.
The fashion house’s customers are not alone in their desire for the traditional shopping experience. This is also why the well-known service checkout zones will continue to exist, even though self-service checkouts are on the rise, assures retail expert Jörg Funder.
Shopping of the future
Nevertheless, developments in retail show that technology is constantly advancing and offering new opportunities to improve the shopping experience. Similar to Bershka, other large companies are already offering self-checkout functions without scanning, including Zara, Uniqlo and Decathlon.
They use what is probably the most advanced system, explains trade expert Funde, so-called RFID chips. “These are chips that emit a radio signal. They are then simply swiped over a transponder or placed in a box and then scan themselves almost automatically.”
Automatic payment: Pack it in your backpack and go?
Amazon is currently testing the chips in London, for example, to save customers from having to go to the self-payment terminals in the future, says Funder. “They can then simply put it in their backpack and as soon as they leave the store, the radio chips will automatically read which items they have bought.” The corresponding money would automatically be debited from the customer’s account. There would no longer be an active scanning or physical payment process.
At eight to ten cents, the chips are currently relatively expensive, which is why they are not yet worthwhile for all retailers. “Especially for food, that is still too much to use them across the board,” says the retail expert.
