Self-checkout adoption: what retailers really think in 2026
Self-checkout adoption passes a retail tipping point
Customers have made their choice; our latest research shows that more than half of all transactions now pass through self-checkout where it’s available.
The question for retailers is no longer whether self-checkout works. It’s how to make it work better.
For years, self-checkout has divided opinion.
Critics point to rising shrink, frustrated customers and viral videos of payment failures, while supporters highlight shorter queues, greater convenience and lower operating costs.
Throughout that debate, one question has dominated: is self-checkout worth it?
The largest study ever undertaken into self-checkout loss is helping retailers find the answer to that question.
Across 39 retailers with a combined annual turnover of more than €1 trillion, more than half (54%) of all transactions now pass through self-checkout in stores where it is available.
Jason Clinch, Front-of-store Transformation Lead at Woolworths, says: “This research confirms what we’re seeing in our own stores: customers have made self-checkout their preferred way to pay.
“The next-generation challenge is keeping the experience working well as their behaviour evolves. The evidence in this report is a strong starting point for tackling that.”
So, customers have embraced the technology. And for many retailers, it is now the shopper’s preferred way to pay.
That represents an important milestone. As Woolworths recognises, that also changes the conversation around further self-checkout adoption.
Retailers understand the new challenge in self-checkout adoption:
- It’s about preserving the speed and convenience shoppers value
- While managing the inevitable losses that come with greater customer participation.
Our Self-checkout Loss Report 2026, authored by Professor Matt Hopkins, offers a framework to deliver on that.
It draws on data from millions of transactions across retailers operating in multiple markets worldwide to provide the clearest picture yet of how self-checkout generates loss.
And, more importantly, what retailers can do about it.
Professor Hopkins explains: “This is the clearest view yet of how self-checkout drives loss, and how retailers can mitigate it.
“The biggest gains come from designing systems that make accuracy easier for customers, not from trying to read their intent.”
The biggest challenge to self-checkout adoption may not be theft
When losses occur at self-checkout, it is tempting to assume customers are deliberately stealing.
The evidence suggests reality is far more complicated.
Our report finds that retailers cannot yet reliably measure intent.
Retailers participating in the research estimated that malicious behaviour accounted for anywhere between 6% and 80% of missed scans.
Such an enormous range illustrates how difficult it is to distinguish deliberate theft from genuine customer mistakes.
Some customers intentionally avoid paying, while others:
- Misidentify fruit and vegetables
- Forget products beneath shopping baskets
- Struggle with awkward packaging
- Or simply move too quickly through the checkout process.
The same outcome, where an unpaid-for product leaves the store, can arise from completely different behaviours.
That changes the way retailers should think about loss prevention and self-checkout adoption.
Rather than trying to determine what customers intended, the report argues retailers should focus on reducing the opportunities for loss in the first place.
Paul Jaeckle, VP Asset Protection at Meijer, says: “Our customers clearly tell us how they want to shop, and self-checkout is a large part of that. The findings align closely with what we’re seeing.
“It gives us a strong, data-backed foundation to focus on the right actions; improving the customer experience while also reducing loss in a meaningful & sustainable way.”
Missed scans remain by far the most common source of self-checkout loss, occurring in between 1% and 4.8% of transactions.
Product look-up errors are much less frequent, while walkaways occur relatively rarely but carry the highest financial impact per incident, averaging around €88.
These key facts from the report each present different challenges and require thoughtful solutions.
Alex Ritchie, Head of Shrinkage at Tesco, says: “This report highlights the reality of what we are seeing as retailers and the size of the opportunity that we face with self-checkout.
“It acts as another tool to strengthen our business cases for key rollouts at the front-end, including scan avoidance and physical security measures at checkouts.”
Why you don’t need to referee every transaction at self-checkout
The report finds that a large proportion of losses around self-checkout adoption are generated by ordinary people making everyday mistakes.
So, the good news for the industry is that retailers can engineer their way out of the problem.
Professor Hopkins’ research shows what interventions work, and how well.
The University of Leicester criminologist presents it as an interaction between customer behaviour, store design, technology and operations.
His research illustrates the factors shaping self-checkout loss:
- Criminal opportunity
- Customer frustration
- Ease of use
- Store layout
- Staffing levels
- Wider store conditions and perceptions of risk.
If retailers can remove friction, improve visibility and make the right action easier, both genuine errors and deliberate abuse become less likely.
Steve Teatum, Head of Loss Prevention at Next PLC, says: “In preparation for our self-checkout trial, reports of this nature are essential.
“They provide an evidence-based perspective on potential risks and effective interventions before any equipment is installed, placing us in a significantly better position than the industry was ten years ago.”
Introducing the next phase of self-checkout adoption
The report identifies four priorities for the industry.
- Retailers need better ways of measuring self-checkout-specific loss rather than relying on overall shrink figures.
- They need stronger evidence linking store characteristics to self-checkout performance.
- They need more rigorous evaluations of which interventions genuinely deliver return on investment.
- And they need broader business cases that consider not only shrink but also inventory accuracy, product availability, labour savings and customer experience.
Customers have already voted with their feet to make self-checkout an essential part of modern retail.
And these recommendations reflect an industry that has matured along with the technology.
The industry is entering a phase of self-checkout adoption focused on continual improvement through better evidence, better design and better operational decisions.
André van Bijnen, Format Developer at Jumbo, says: “It was great to play a part in this project, and the findings are invaluable. They will help us refine our approach and strengthen our initiatives around self-checkout and loss prevention.
“The real power of the report is that it gives the industry a shared evidence base rather than a collection of individual hunches. New technology is helping, but for now, it’s still our people who make the real difference in how well self-checkout works.”
Customers have already embraced self-checkout. The next phase of adoption is no longer about persuading shoppers to use it, but about continually improving how it works.
For retailers, that means moving beyond assumptions towards evidence-led decisions.
So they combine people, process, technology and store design to reduce loss while preserving the speed and convenience customers now expect.
