What is "self-checkout"

Self-checkout (also known as self-service checkout and as semi-attended customer-activated terminal, SACAT) machines provide a mechanism for customers to process their own purchases from a retailer. They are an alternative to the traditional cashier-staffed checkout. In practice, the customer assumes the job of the cashier by scanning and applying payment for the items themselves.

As of the end of 2008, there were 92,600 self-checkout units worldwide. The number was estimated to reach 430,000 units by 2014. It was invented by an American, Howard Schneider, in the 1990s.