Checkout Registers to Be a Thing of the Past

For those of you that may be intimidated by self-checkout machines or get frustrated by the current process, you better warm up to the idea of a world without checkout registers.

Use of self-checkout is growing, and the technology is getting better all the time. With self-service machines now available at airports kiosks, gas stations, grocery stores and parking lots, the world of assisted service could be a thing of the past.

Bill Nuti, NCR’s CEO told CNBC.com on Tuesday: “Within 10 years there won�t be assisted service left much like it isn�t at the gas station, much like there hasn�t been in other markets. Self-service is here to stay, and we�ll continue to innovate and make the technology better.”

NCR (NYSE:NCR) makes self-checkout scanners and kiosks as well as bank ATMs. He acknowledged that self-service machines could break down, but the technology is improving and “the consumer experience is getting better over time.”

So much better, in fact, that “we have customers that have tremendous numbers of [consumer] transactions going through,” he said. “We have customers with upwards of 50% of all their transactions in the store, go through self-checkout.”

One thing is for certain, like it or not, self-checkout is here to stay.