Only 36% of Retailers Plan Self-Checkout Spend, Down 7 Points — and AI May Repeat the Story
mkheck · x · 2026-10-08
A survey of 340 retail operators finds only 36% plan to spend on self-checkout this year, down 7 points from 2025 — the least popular and only declining store tech.
The author recounts how self-checkout's promise to replace workers fell short: customers scan slower than cashiers, errors are frequent, shrinkage rises. Dollar General removed it from 300 high-theft stores in 2024 and capped items at five elsewhere; Amazon dropped its no-checkout tech the same year after reports of workers in India reviewing purchases (disputed by Amazon).
His take: companies now announce layoffs crediting AI, but AI may follow the same overpromised path — just faster.
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