What are the advantages and disadvantages of supermarket unmanned self-service checkout systems?

With the increasing development of technology, anti-theft devices in supermarkets are no longer fresh. Today we are talking about unmanned self-service checkout systems in supermarkets. With self-service checkout systems and anti-theft devices in supermarkets, will the popularity of unmanned supermarkets still be far away? So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of self-service checkout systems? Below, we will briefly introduce to you:

Simply put, a supermarket self-service cash register is a device that allows customers to complete the scanning, bagging, and payment process of goods without a cashier. I have seen the most rudimentary self-service cash register system, which transforms an ordinary cash register (i.e. an industrial controlled PC) and throws it on the checkout counter for customers to operate on their own. And high-end devices can scan general goods, scan QR codes for various marketing purposes, support various card readers, fingerprint recognition, cash payment and change, including paper currency and coins. Of course, there are also many very professional tricks inside. For example, for this paper currency change, high-end equipment is cyclical, which means that the money put in by the previous customer can still be given to the next person. There are also non circulating devices, where the money put in cannot be found. The latter has a simple structure, but is much cheaper.

The main advantages of this system are:

Save manpower and reduce the cost of cashiers.

The cash register channel can be expanded at any time, and more machines can be opened when there are more people. This is actually a way to save manpower.

Satisfy customers who love to try new things.

Of course, disadvantages also exist:

The equipment is expensive. NCR， Selling both software and hardware together, it seems like one machine costs around 300000 yuan, and buying at least 4 units is still a lot. Plus the cost of implementing secondary development and maintenance, it's really expensive.

Difficulty in preventing losses. Loss prevention is a professional term in retail, and a major aspect of loss prevention is theft prevention. You should know that a supermarket may lose 1-2% of its retail sales due to theft every year. It is said that Wal Mart, which is good at zui in the world, is 0.7-0.8%, which is really painful for supermarkets with an average gross profit rate of 10-15% or so. In the domestic environment, the theft rate of self-service cashiers is definitely higher than that of someone else.

The checkout speed is slow. Really, self-service checkout is not fast, especially when there are many purchases. Imagine the speed at which someone scans for you and you scan yourself, not to mention the time for bagging and payment.

In summary, the main advantages are labor costs, but equipment costs can be intimidating, inconvenient for customers, and hidden theft costs. Self service cash registers cannot be completely 'unmanned', as customers may not be familiar with the operation and may encounter many situations. Therefore, every few self-service cash registers generally need a supervisor to provide service at any time. Just by keeping a simple account, you will know how high the labor cost is, and supermarkets will have sufficient motivation to deploy self-service cashiers.