Stores Skip Checkout
More retail locations get rid of cashiers in favor of technology.
Feb 20, 2019
CHICAGO – Twelve months after Amazon debut its first cashier-free store, retailers and startups are coming out with their own version of checkout-free lines, the Associated Press reports. Using sensors, cameras and apps, retailers allow customers to purchase products without the bother of ringing up with a cashier.
“Once a few big retail chains begin to deploy this technology, it's going to snowball and we will see more and more of them doing it,” said Michael Suswal, co-founder of Standard Cognition, which is developing its own cashier-less technology.
Amazon has thus far opened 10 U.S. Amazon Go locations. Analysts recently estimated the stores generate $1.1 million to $2 million in sales each year, based on an average buy of $10. That success has spurred established retailers and startups with pursuing checkout free options of their own. For example, AiFi has inked deals with the French Carrefour chain and the Polish Zabka chain.
Sam’s Club is piloting a Dallas store that has no cashiers, while 7-Eleven is testing Scan & Pay at more than a dozen Dallas stores. “Waiting in line is torture,” said Gurmeet Singh, chief digital officer and chief information officer for 7-Eleven. Singh said the chain would always have cashiers to give customers payment choices.
