Self-service checkouts are coming to many more stores near you

Self checkout tills are set to become an even bigger feature of UK grocery shopping with the number of such devices increasing from a current 7,000 to 15,000 by 2011, according to research from consultancy RBR.

This places the UK firmly at the forefront of implementing such technology within the European Union but this still puts it behind the US where it is a much more accepted method of paying. The mass adoption in the US will undoubtedly have influenced the earlier decision by Tesco to focus entirely on self-checkout tills in its US-based Fresh & Easy chain.

The grocer is also the most progressive in rolling out such equipment across its UK estate and is expected to have around half its 2,100-plus outlets incorporating self-service checkouts. This would represent an increase of 30 per cent over the past year.

However, Tesco is not alone in pushing ahead with introducing more devices into stores as all the other big grocers - Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's - each have aggressive plans to boost the number of self-service units available to their customers.

This universal adoption is based on the tills offering numerous benefits to the supermarkets including speeding up the flow of customers through the checkout process and reducing the number of checkout staff required.

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