At the grocery store the cashiers and their expensive scanning equipment are often idle while people dig for pennies etc. and other customers waiting in line go nuts. To fix this problem let the "cashiers" just do the scanning. When everything is scanned the customer gets an identifying token from the cashier (card with barcode or RF-ID tag). To get really out of the store the customer presents the token at a reader (connected to the stores central computer) and pays there. After that the store gate opens and the customer can leave.

The readers are fairly simple so the stores can have many of them and slow customers don't cause congestion. There could also be a few "everything accepted" lanes for people who insist on writing checks, like the "all vehicles" lanes on highway toll booths, and EazyPass lanes for frequent customers who just show their face to a camera to have the purchase deducted from a bank account (let's say up to $100 to limit the risk).
-- kbecker, May 08 2003

I understand this is Baked (or in the process of being Baked) now. In either case, it's not original.

Very nice first try, though, and you approached the proper category. Welcome to the HalfBakery.
-- phoenix, May 08 2003


Better yet, in the not too distant future NCR will be releasing a POS system that looks like a metal detector at an airport, you simply walk through it, and it charges all the items in your trolley to your account.
-- RoboBust, May 08 2003


I have been to many stores of many kinds where the checkout is separate from the cashier. Trust me, it's *much* slower.

I favor self-checking out supermarkets, anyway.
-- DrCurry, May 09 2003



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