Shops without cashiers and payment by the hour. How Belarusian retail has changed in recent years

Ten years ago, retail outlets without salespeople and security guards seemed like something out of science fiction. Today, you can easily select and buy a product, paying for it with a card, phone or smartwatch without the cashier. A "7 days" correspondent, having made purchases in an autonomous store, found out whether technology can replace manual labor and whether the future of trade has really arrived.

Test purchase

Self-service checkouts in large stores across the country are no longer a novelty. To be fair, they are quite appropriate in supermarkets and shopping centers where there is a large grocery store. In addition, there is almost always a consultant on duty on the premises who will give advice and help.

However, many, especially older customers, still look with distrust at modern machines, designed primarily to reduce queues, and go the old-fashioned way to the traditional tape with a cashier. This is understandable: you can exchange a few words with a person, and you will not have to manually search for and add goods (for example, buns).

However, domestic retail has gone even further, opening entire self-service stores. This is exactly what opened in the capital in the summer of 2024. The main feature of the outlet, which belongs to one of the large chains, is that purchases can be made here without the participation of sellers and cashiers.

Under the guise of a secret shopper, our correspondent decided to evaluate the work of the store of the future and collect a basket of socially significant essential goods. Bread, MILK , MEAT , FLOUR and pasta, sunflower oil , vegetables and fruits , baby puree - the assortment is impressive. In general, the inside of the retail facility is not much different from the usual one - with cashiers and security. Goods are neatly laid out on the shelves, large wooden boxes with apples, oranges, kiwi, carrots, potatoes and other fresh produce are installed in the center. By the way, it is the only one here that can be bought in bulk. Everything else, including sausages, hot dogs, cookies, sweets and other products, are packaged and packed. So, for example, you won't be able to buy 150-200 grams of "doctor's" bread. You'll have to buy the whole loaf.

Instead of the usual cash registers, the autonomous store has self-service checkouts, the same as in supermarkets. Here you can weigh vegetables and fruits, pay for purchases with a card, phone or smartwatch.

- In fact, it's a very convenient format. I dropped in at lunchtime to grab some cheese and a couple of yogurts for a snack. Of course, there's no delicatessen where you can buy a full meal. But if you need to quickly buy a couple of items, then you can't think of a better option. The selection is good, and there are never any lines, - notes MINSK resident Yulia and smiles as she talks about another, at first glance, not the most obvious advantage: - A store like this personally takes me back to childhood every time. Who among us hasn't imagined themselves as a salesperson at a toy cash register?!

By the way, we did meet some staff in the store. The employees were busy putting products on the shelves. As it turned out, they can, if necessary, calculate the bill for a client who came with cash and confirm the age of buyers of alcoholic and tobacco products.

You can't come here at any time of the day, the store has the usual working hours - from eight in the morning to ten in the evening. One of the significant advantages is the lack of lines. And it's also unusual that there were several times fewer employees here than in classic retail outlets. Although, when going out with purchases and not noticing a security guard nearby, you involuntarily wonder: will people soon be left without work due to new technologies?
Trade symbiosis

According to the HEAD of the Department of Digital Economy of the Faculty of Economics of BSU, candidate of economic sciences, associate professor Irina Karachun, the changing structure of employment dictates its own rules - representatives of many professions will have to retrain.

- In any case, engineers, programmers and even storekeepers will be needed. Without a marketing and product promotion department, too, now you can’t get anywhere, - she explains. - An autonomous store is not an independent system. A person will participate in the process one way or another.

Even if robots appear in stores in the distant future, it will not be possible to completely exclude people from the process, Irina Karachun is sure.

- Firstly, the equipment needs maintenance, settings to optimize the work. Secondly, human participation is necessary for making strategic decisions. For example, on organizing promotions or choosing goods that should go on sale. And here specialists in the field of marketing and product promotion play an important role, - the interlocutor emphasizes. - The system will not be able to completely replace a person and is not capable of making creative decisions. Therefore, in the future, the role of people in digital trade will remain key, despite the high rate of automation. Professions related to logistics, service and interaction with clients will be relevant for several decades to come.

In her opinion, the idea of ​​fully automated stores sounds tempting. But, as practice has shown, the creation of such outlets is a rather expensive process. It will require the introduction of technologies for the automatic layout of products on display cases, the creation of product tracking systems and enhanced security. All this requires significant investments . The optimal option for large stores is a symbiosis of traditional and self-service checkouts.

Technical innovations and the introduction of information systems in trade, according to our expert, make it possible to track which product is most actively purchased by citizens, and which is less in demand. Working through marketplaces and online stores, small businesses can enter the market, minimizing the costs of renting warehouses and creating their own websites.

- Digitalization of trade in Belarus is developing quite dynamically. Most of our stores and outlets are already equipped with systems for paying with cards, phones and smart watches. Database analytics allows you to quickly track consumer demand and meet it. In addition, self-service checkouts help reduce queues in large stores, and this makes the shopping process more comfortable, - says Irina Karachun.
Vadim KONDRATYUK,
photo by the author, BELTA,
newspaper "7 days".