Self-service cash registers were a novelty in stores until recently, but now they have become a completely normal and even everyday thing for Lithuanians. Lithuanians have become so adept at self-service shopping that neither the Estonians, who are considered progressive, nor their Latvian neighbors can match them. Lithuanian shopping networkMaxima” data show that both in terms of the speed of shopping and the popularity of these cash registers, Lithuania is significantly different from other Baltic states.
The innovation proved itself
Since 2009, when self-service checkouts were introduced in Maximos stores in Lithuania, their number has been growing at an impressive pace. Starting with a few self-service cash registers in one of the Maximos stores in Vilnius and Riga, now there are more than 300 self-service cash registers installed in Lithuania alone, and more than 570 self-service cash registers are currently operating in Maximos of all Baltic countries.
Consumer interest in the innovation is also growing: if in 2015, an average of one and a half hundred customers used self-service checkouts per day in Lithuania, now this indicator has already exceeded 52 thousand. According to the popularity of self-service cash registers, Lithuania is more than twice ahead of both Latvia and Estonia, where approximately 18 people use them each day. together.
There are no equals for Lithuanians
In Maximos stores, which have self-service cash registers, an average of a quarter of customers choose them instead of regular cash registers. Such a trend is observed in all Baltic countries.
"Buyers usually choose self-service checkouts when they want to shop faster. In addition, we have made sure that Lithuanians are receptive to innovations and absorb them quickly: if two years ago, the average self-service shopping took about two minutes, now it takes a little more than a minute and a half", says Lina Trinkūnienė, sales manager of Maximos.
Shopping time is most affected by how long it takes to scan products. Lithuanians have become unbeatable according to this indicator: now the duration of scanning one product at self-service checkouts in Lithuania is about 7,3 seconds, it has shortened by more than two seconds in two years. For comparison, Latvians now spend an average of 9,2 seconds, Estonians - 9,5 seconds.
To self-service - with a card
In addition, self-service checkouts are more popular with customers who use bank payment cards more actively. Less than one in four customers pay by card in regular cash registers, and one in two shoppers in self-service.
"Taking into account the habits of customers, we made it possible to pay only by cards at half of the self-service checkouts in Maximos stores. It also helps save shoppers time: according to our data, it takes 2 seconds less to pay for purchases at self-service checkouts with a card than with cash. It might not seem like much, but if we shop three times a week, such a simple action saves us more than 5 minutes of time in a year", says L. Trinkūnienė.
In addition, more than 2 thousand "Maxima" cash registers, including all self-service cash registers, are equipped with the option to pay with contactless payment cards, which allows you to save even more time. When the price of purchases is less than 10 euros, it is enough to add a card that supports contactless payments and the money is withdrawn automatically, and if the amount is higher, the buyer is asked to enter the PIN code.
The resort presented a surprise
Although it may seem that self-service checkouts are used more often by customers who buy less goods, in fact this difference is not great. On average, 7 items are purchased at Maximos self-service checkouts in Lithuania, while at regular checkouts the average is 7,7 items. A similar trend is also observed in Estonia (self-service – 7,3 products, regular cash register – 7,9 products), while Latvians bring even slightly more products to self-service checkouts than to regular ones (averages 7,1 and 6,6 products, respectively).
By the way, after getting used to scanning goods and paying for them on their own, buyers do not forget these habits even while on vacation. The statistics of "Maximas" show that in the last summer month, the self-service cash registers of "Maximas" in Nida were most actively used - almost 10 payments were made in them per month. together.
"Maxima" stores in Kaunas, Klaipėda and Vilnius "Akropolios" and "Hyper Maxima" located on Savanorių Prospekt in Kaunas also entered the top five of the most active users of self-service cash registers.
