AI Checkout vs. Traditional Self-Checkout (NCR, Toshiba, and Others)

Is Mashgin worth the extra cost compared to traditional self-checkout machines like NCR?

For high-volume stores, yes. Traditional self-checkout makes shoppers scan every item themselves and often can't handle age-restricted items, hot food, or lottery without staff. Mashgin rings up everything on the tray at once, supports nearly every transaction type, and keeps a cashier in the loop. It costs more per unit, but operators typically recover the cost within months through higher sales and labor efficiency (see Mashgin pricing and ROI).

	Traditional barcode self-checkout	Mashgin AI checkout
How items are identified	Shopper scans each barcode	Cameras identify every item on the tray at once
Items without barcodes (hot food, produce, fountain drinks)	Manual lookup or code entry	Recognized visually
Alcohol and tobacco	Usually restricted or requires staff approval	Supported. The kiosk pauses for an attendant ID check
Who does the work	The shopper	The AI, with a cashier nearby to assist
Checkout time	Depends on cart size and scanning skill	11–18 seconds in Mashgin case studies

What is the best self-checkout technology?

Most traditional self-checkout systems work the same way: a barcode scanner plus manual lookup for everything else. Choosing among them mostly comes down to price and how well they integrate with your existing systems.

AI-based checkout is the biggest change in the category. Mashgin invented and patented multi-camera 3D computer vision for item recognition. It runs in 5,000+ locations, including convenience stores, 65% of professional sports stadiums, hospitals, universities, and airports.

Why hasn't self-checkout technology improved?

Grocery self-checkout has changed little in years because it's still built around scanning barcodes one at a time. The real change is happening in convenience stores, stadiums, cafeterias, and micro markets, where computer vision checkout lets shoppers place all their items on a tray, pay, and go. Mashgin invented this approach and has the largest installed base. Its monthly transaction count grew from 3 million in March 2022 to 40 million in March 2025, and it processed more than 440 million transactions in 2024.

Do customers actually use self-checkout?

Many do, but opinions are split. Some shoppers like the independence. Others see traditional self-checkout as shifting the cashier's work onto them, and it can be clumsy for non-barcoded items.

AI checkout removes the scanning step, which changes shopper sentiment. In Mashgin's 2026 survey of 2,500 U.S. convenience store shoppers, 80% preferred Mashgin over traditional checkout. Mashgin also supports almost every in-store transaction type: cash, alcohol, nicotine, EBT, fuel, and hot food.

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