COLOGNE (dpa-AFX) - More and more customers in Germany are scanning their products themselves at the checkout. According to an analysis published on Thursday, there are already 4270 stores in the retail sector with a total of 16,000 self-service checkouts, more than twice as many as two years ago. The study by the retail research institute EHI is available to the German Press Agency. According to the study, self-checkout systems are most widespread in supermarkets. Most self-checkout systems are used in Rewe and Edeka stores. Customers already have the opportunity to pay at checkouts without staff in more than 750 stores.

The EHI assumes that the number of stores with such equipment will continue to rise rapidly. The authors of the study cite several advantages: Less space is required, so more checkouts can be set up in less space, which shortens waiting times. Cash registers without staff also relieve the pressure on retailers, who have great difficulty filling vacancies. Customer satisfaction is said to be high. A total of 63 companies and groups of companies were surveyed for the analysis./cr/DP/zb