Key takeaways

• Most of the $1.86 trillion in U.S. consumer spending happened in stores during Q1 2025.

• Costco and Sam’s Club will expand self-scanning of items.

• 77% of shoppers like self-checkout because it’s faster.

Shoppers’ need for speed brings innovation to the checkout experience.

As American shoppers face a combination of higher prices and shrinkflation, over three in four people (78%) are spending more of their money on essential items, according to Empower research.

The majority of shopping in the U.S. still happens in person, with e-commerce’s $300.2 billion in sales during the first quarter of 2025 making up only 16.2% of the $1.86 trillion in total purchases.¹

Empower findings show that more than half of people (55%) like the familiarity of the big-box store experience. Companies have been trying to enhance what it means to shop in-person — and the checkout line is the latest spot to get a makeover.

The power of self-checkout

With nearly one in three people (29%) saying they have less free time, retailers are pushing changes to reduce lines and make running errands more of a grab-and-go experience. The catch? They’re enlisting help from shoppers themselves.

Self-checkout stations for customers to scan, bag, and pay for items has existed since 1984, though it’s now more mainstream, with people using the technology in 2025 for various reasons:^2,3

• 77% prefer it over staffed registers because it’s faster

• 36% prioritize the shorter lines

• 43% like bagging their own items

However, the process has been calibrated over the years to balance speed and store operations. In March 2024, Target limited its self-checkouts to people with 10 items or less, and a year later, saw a positive reduction in its transaction times — an 8% drop across both the self-checkout and staffed registers.⁴

Big-box retailers have been opening smaller-footprint stores, so open space is at a premium. Reducing the amount of larger staffed lines could be worthwhile for stores to expand space for added offerings. In more than 1,700 Target stores, shoppers can also find a Starbucks café, which can drive convenience for shoppers wanting a beverage while browsing — and loyalty and sales for both brands.⁵

Read more: Trading spaces: Big-box stores are shrinking

Wholesale clubs take registers out of the equation

Club stores are going even bigger with checkout changes: Walmart-owned Sam’s Club announced this spring that all self-checkout and traditional lanes would be removed from its stores. In their place is the company’s Scan & Go smartphone app, which members have been using since 2016 to scan their own purchases and pay with digital methods.⁶

The company also announced a “Just Go” exit, where artificial intelligence would act in place of staffers that check physical receipts — allowing shoppers to push their filled carts out the door without additional steps. There will be other not-yet-announced options for those who choose to pay a different way, though 91% of Americans own a smartphone.⁷

In Costco’s latest earnings call in May — amid discussions of 8% year-over-year sales gains — leadership also addressed testing a scan-as-you-shop system, with a similar setup.^8,9

Read more: Join the club: The economics of membership retail

Places that have used “checkout-free” systems — such as Amazon’s Go convenience stores and a variety of U.S. sports stadiums — have seen mixed results. In such venues, a complex mix of cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence team up to track when customers pull items off shelves.¹⁰

Benefits for shoppers

For many consumers, speed in the store is just as attractive as being able to shop independently. Younger shoppers in particular are increasingly choosing strategies that limit the time spent with workers: More than three-quarters of Gen Z (86%) and Millennials (76%) buy items online for in-store or curbside pickup at least once a month, with around a quarter Gen Z (23%) and Millennials (27%) doing so weekly.¹¹ Making the in-store experience more similar could help boost foot traffic.

Another checkout compromise that some smaller brands have been making is keeping the familiarity of checking out but removing the physical counter and lines entirely. Leveraging mobile point-of-sale systems on tablets or phones, the store experience stays customer-first as staffers walk around the store to meet shoppers (literally) where they are.¹²

What’s next for store checkouts

Nearly a third (30%) of Gen Zers say they prefer in-store shopping for the ability to get products immediately. Whether it’s tweaks to self-checkouts or bringing a DIY approach to scan-and-pay, ongoing shifts in the checkout experience can bring shopping satisfaction at an even faster clip.