I’ve been told that the days of the traditional checkout are potentially numbered, with technology available to automate this process. How would this work and is it really something that we could be dealing with in the near future?

Checkouts at supermarkets and other stores have progressively been automated over the last 30 to 40 years, and we shouldn’t have been surprised when Amazon recently announced the launch of Amazon Go to automate this process even further.

While previous automations focused on making the role of the cashier more efficient through conveyor belts, barcode scanners, EFTPOS and contactless payments, there was still fundamentally the need for the cashier to facilitate the transaction.

Even in recent times where self-serve checkouts have been introduced, you have still needed to scan your goods and a cashier has still been on hand to supervise these transactions.

Amazon Go breaks new ground in this area by doing away with the checkout (and therefore the cashier) altogether. This change is made possible by advanced technologies that can automatically detect when products are taken from or returned to shelves, and keeps track of these movements in a virtual cart. Once you leave the store, Amazon will send you a receipt and charge your Amazon account. And while Amazon Go facilitates payment via an Amazon account, other companies could streamline a signup process to provide a similar outcome, perhaps via PayPal.

Attempts were made to achieve something similar in the 2000s, however the level of inaccuracy (due to insufficient technology) meant larger scale implementation was not possible at the time.

This latest announcement may mean that the technology has become sophisticated enough to allow introduction on a larger scale, and if this is the case then the humble cashier’s days at large retail chains may be numbered.

If your business has a more traditional checkout process, then it may be worthwhile exploring options for modernisation, as significant cost savings could be achieved.