Robotic Cashier Rings Up Purchases And Bags Them In Osaka, Japan

The Lawson convenience store chain in Osaka, Japan has teamed up with Panasonic Corp to create the first cash register that lacks a human to operate the equipment. The register is able to ring up all the purchases the customer has in their cart and then bag them up. The system is called Reji Robo, which is short for register robots.

The first such system debuted at a Lawson location in Osaka Prefecture this week. The Lawson chain plans to eventually roll the machines out at its stores nationwide to remedy staff shortages and reduce congestion during peak hours. The move will certainly save the company money that would be paid out to humans as well.

The location that received the first Reji Robot is near a Panasonic office in Moriguchi. To use the system the customers need a sensor equipped shopping basket. When they are ready to checkout that basket is packed into a designated area of the register table. The products are then swiped through a barcode reader and the purchase is totaled. After the payment is made, the basket is slurped into an opening in the register where the items are bagged.

It sounds much like the self-checkout lanes in many Walmart stores, only these lanes bag your items for you. "If demand is strong enough, we are hoping to come up with ways in which customers will get their purchases settled by just passing through the register," Lawson President Sadanobu Takemasu was quoted by Kyodo News as saying. That plan sounds very much like the Amazon Go grocery store that opened in the US recently.

SOURCE: JapanTimes