We noticed the self checkout trend really kick into high gear in 2020 during the early stages of the pandemic when people began to realize how much they actually change hands and touch product, credit and debit cards, and currency during a transaction. Store operators were forced to come up with a solution to remain up and running while dealing with sick employees, state and local ordinances, and overly cautious patrons.

We consider ourselves blessed in that we were in the right industry at the right time. Convenience stores refused to quit. Largely in part because, after some time being stuck indoors, people refused to stay home. For better or for worse, human beings, as social creatures, needed interaction. Travel stayed relatively strong despite the fears of going out in public. And so unlike some industries, the convenience store industry kept on clicking.

What happened in the summer of that year was interesting, and while looking back on it, predictable. Many retailers saw the need for self checkout kiosks to combat the new rules set in place as well as the drop in employee retention. But at the top of the list was the need to make customers feel more at ease in their stores. Travelers and shoppers felt more comfortable handling the transaction themselves as opposed to a store employee, and store operators quickly reacted by installing at least one option for them to do so. The trend took off and store operators realized that not only was this going to be something that led to more sales, but it also allowed them to remain open and functioning with less cashiers, reducing payroll.

Walk into any larger convenience store and you'll see something that, 4 years ago, would have been considered unusual. We've become accustomed to it, and now rather prefer it. Where at one point we were remodeling existing checkouts to accommodate these self serve pay points, stores have adopted the self checkout model on almost every new build, having seen the benefits of it.

Merchants Fixture was able to engineer custom kiosks to fit our customers' needs for a self checkout in 2020, and we continue to do so, seeing no need for a standard checkout ever again. The self checkout phenomenon is here to stay, with more available options and configurations. We build to any customer specification and will engineer our self checkout fixtures around any self checkout system.

Contact us for that remodel or new checkout, and see the benefits for yourself.