NCR Voyix Upgrades Self-Checkout as ‘Unattended Payments’ Jump

Digital commerce company NCR Voyix has introduced a new self-checkout offering.

The NCR Voyix Next Generation Self-Checkout Solution, announced in a news release Sunday (Jan. 14), was designed with the arrival of frictionless hybrid stores in mind, letting retailers “pivot quickly between assisted and self-checkout lanes or cash and cashless lanes.”

The solution uses multiple signals — such as bar code scanning, computer vision, RFID and more — to lower shopper friction and “drive natural inclusivity,” the company said.

“The NCR Voyix team worked with more than 50 global grocery, convenience and specialty retailers to understand their checkout priorities and challenges, and their continuous feedback shaped the design of our Next Generation Self-Checkout Solution,” Eric Schoch, executive vice president and president of retail at NCR Voyix, said in the release.

“By connecting the Next Generation Self-Checkout Solution to our Platform, retailers can win the in-store checkout experience with both customers and employees — and competitively position themselves for the store of the future in the rapidly evolving retail marketplace.”

The launch comes at a time when America’s $31 billion unattended payments market is “transforming the convenience commerce landscape,” as PYMNTS wrote last week.

The trend gained momentum thanks to the stringent health measures put in place during and post-pandemic times, increasing the reliance on unattended payments for secure, contactless payment experiences.

PYMNTS Intelligence research has shown that self-service kiosks are a prime example of this trend, with 84% of U.S. consumers across all generations have embraced this payment method, with 66% even expressing a preference for them over staffed checkouts. In addition, 36% of consumers say they look for smarter unattended payment alternatives.

Meanwhile, some industry players think shoppers will not embrace new technology unless they can be eased into it, with familiar options available along the way.

“I think hybrid is the way forward,” Jordan Fisher, CEO of autonomous retail technology company Standard AI, said in an interview with PYMNTS last year.

“If you imagine 10 years ago, when self-checkout was really starting to be deployed, if [retailers] had just said, ‘OK, it’s self-checkout everywhere — 100% has to be through self-checkout,’ it would have been a disaster. [You] need that hybrid, and we’re seeing the same thing with autonomous [checkout].”