There was a fall in the number of global shipments, but 2014 proved to be a good year for self-checkout (SCO) activity in western Europe and Japan, according to new research by RBR.

SCO shipments to western Europe grew by 19 per cent in 2014, with activity in the UK, second only to the USA by installations, up by 14 per cent. Alongside traditional devices, a diverse range of self service technology has been trialled in the UK, including tunnel scanning (where goods are placed on a conveyor belt and automatically scanned), mobile scanning, and slimline cashless terminals without security scales. SCO roll-outs also continued in other countries, including France, Germany, and Sweden. Japan witnessed a renewed impetus with shipments up by more than 40 per cent. Several major convenience store chains have begun piloting small-footprint solutions in order to maximise their limited floor space. Although a culture of assisted service in retail has been the norm in Japan, shifting demographics means that there are fewer people of working age willing to do lower paid jobs and this has encouraged retailers to look at labour-saving devices including SCO, which are expected to become increasingly common.

NCR is the largest SCO vendor, and grew its business in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and western Europe in 2014. This was despite a decline in shipments to the USA, following the large roll-out to its customer Walmart during 2013, and the resulting loss of market share. Wincor Nixdorf accounted for 16 per cent of global shipments, up by five percentage points, with strong increases in activity across Europe. Japan’s Fujitsu and Toshiba ranked third and fourth respectively. Only two other vendors shipped more than 300 SCO terminals in what is a concentrated market: Japanese company NEC, and Sweden’s ITAB.

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