MediaMarktSaturn Latest to Bring Mobile Payments, Self-Checkout, to Stores

The notion of self-checkout isn’t exactly new, and we’ve seen it done a few different ways. Some stores are using it as a way to completely bypass the checkout stand, while others are using it as a way to augment the checkout stand currently in place. Recently, Europe’s biggest consumer electronics retailer, MediaMarktSaturn, announced it was bringing self-checkout systems to its Hamburg store, which suggests the company is eager to get the system’s presence growing.

Previously, MediaMarktSaturn had tested the product out in its Innsbruck store last year, and turned to the MishiPay self-checkout system. It’s a full-service system, allowing customers to effectively “scan, pay, leave” by using their own smartphones to scan barcodes on over 100,000 different products in the outlets. This is the broadest-scale use of such technology, and allows customers to completely bypass the line.

MishiPay operates out of Great Britain, and gives stores the ability to build such self-checkout systems directly into current payment systems. This means a lot less onboarding to do and a lot less disruption to current operations, which should make it an attractive new addition to stores that don’t already have such tools in place.

MediaMarktSaturn’s chief innovation officer Martin Wild noted “Our project in Innsbruck earlier this year utilized MishiPay’s mobile self-checkout technology and the results far exceeded our expectations. The very positive response from customers has encouraged us to offer mobile self-checkout across a large floor space for the first time.”

It’s always kind of dismaying to see companies not go all the way with self-checkout. Done correctly, it can be a great way to prevent customer frustration by allowing an easy way to check out even when checkout lines are stuffed to the brink. There are always concerns that businesses will ultimately eschew checkout lanes altogether and fire a bunch of people, but that need not be so; not everyone will want to or be able to use self-checkout, and that’s where cashiers still come in handy.

For those who do want to use self-checkout, though, it’s indispensable, and the business that can use both probably should to get the best customer mix going.