Overview
- Online discussions highlight a shift away from the informal “let those with few items go first” custom, with some shoppers refusing Vorlass where self-checkout is available and others insisting on keeping the courtesy.
- A Hessischer Rundfunk trial with a professional thief in an Edeka store showed about €150 in goods left unpaid without triggering a control, and a security expert urged visible staff oversight near the machines.
- Self-checkout has scaled quickly, with about 38,650 tills in more than 10,300 German stores in 2025, or roughly one in 18 registers, according to the EHI Retail Institute.
- Trade groups and experts point to persistent hiring gaps—reports cited about 122,000 unfilled retail jobs in 2025—and say the systems reallocate tasks and relieve staff rather than automatically eliminate positions.
- User experience remains split: studies show time savings for small baskets, yet age checks and scanning issues cause delays, as retailers expand rollouts and test tools such as image recognition, mobile scanning and Scan&Go.