The way out : customer benefits and self-service satisfaction in cashierless shopping systems

Introducing cashierless shopping systems offers an opportunity to innovate the checkout process for stationary retailers who encounter significant competition from both, existing stationary competitors and online retailers. The present study analyzes three types of cashierless shopping systems: mobile apps, face recognition, and self-checkouts. Following a review of customer benefits of digitization in stationary retailing, we integrate customer convenience, empowerment, and experience as well as self-service satisfaction in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. An initial study with 406 participants validates the underlying framework while extending it with technology affinity and privacy concerns. Customer benefits in cashierless systems are explored based on 539 questionnaires. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, customer empowerment, and customer experience positively impact shoppers’ self-service satisfaction and willingness to use cashierless systems. Conversely, concerns about data privacy have a negative effect. The results reveal that participants perceive all types of cashierless shopping systems as comparatively similar. These systems perform the checkout process, empower shoppers, create positive service experiences, and adhere to data protection regulations. Qualitative insights ultimatively identify five key topics: convenience, security concerns, social concerns, technical concerns, and the shopping situation. These findings highlight the complexity of customer preferences regarding cashierless shopping systems.