Supermarkets spend big on self-checkout

According to KioskMarketplace:

"Supermarkets plan to increase spending on self-checkout systems and workforce management software in the next 12 months, according to a new report from IHL Consulting Group, retail analyst and consultancy firm."

Some of the key findings include:

• Thirty-one percent of the sample planned to install self-checkout systems in 2005 and a total of 50 percent plan to do so by June 2006.
• Grocers are planning to upgrade to self-checkout before replacing aging POS hardware. Once self-checkout is installed, POS hardware and software are their next big purchase in most cases.
• There is a shift in the purchase intentions of POS systems. Forty-three percent now say they will buy POS hardware and software from different vendors in their next purchase.
• Forty-four percent are planning new workforce management solutions in the next year and more than 40 percent are planning new kiosk implementations at the store level by June 2006.

You can read the complete article here (though it doesn't include the rest of the report, obviously :)