Enhanced point of sale for a great in-store experience

Summary

Part 3 of 6 in a series on transforming in-store customer experience.

Checkout remains one of the most persistent pain points in physical retail, even among shoppers who otherwise prefer brick-and-mortar stores over online-only brands. Long queues and slow transaction processing can undo the goodwill built throughout the rest of a customer's visit, making point-of-sale innovation one of the highest-leverage investments a retailer can make in the overall shopping experience.

A range of technologies are reshaping the checkout moment, from radio-frequency identification tags that let entire carts be scanned instantly, to app-based scan-and-go features that let customers pay directly from their phones and skip queues altogether. Cashier-less store formats using computer vision and sensor networks track purchases automatically, eliminating the checkout process as a distinct step entirely.

Beyond the point of purchase, digital product identifiers can extend a retailer's relationship with a customer well after they leave the store, creating opportunities for reminders, recommendations and continued engagement tied to items they've already bought.

• RFID, scan-and-go and sensor-based checkout technologies compared
• How digital identifiers on products extend engagement beyond the transaction

Retailers evaluating checkout modernisation will find a practical comparison of the technologies best suited to reducing wait times and friction.