Say Goodbye to the Cash Register

Would you like to bypass the checkout line, and just use your Smartphone to pay for your store purchases? So would a lot of other people – particularly young people.

European payment firm Yapital had a survey conducted to find out how people felt about paying by Smartphone. Not surprisingly, support for such unconventional transactions was highest among younger shoppers.

Yapital said that 83% of respondents aged 14 to 29 years expressed annoyance at having to stand in cash register lines. Even online checkout wasn’t considered ideal, since 44% of younger folk were bothered by the task of inputting data to complete those transactions.

Overall, 28% of consumers surveyed expressed positive support for mobile payments. They may not have long to wait.

Given that more than 85% of all transactions are now cashless, and given the growing sophistication of mobile payments systems, it’s only a matter of time before the retail environment is re-designed around fast, automated transactions via Smartphone.

Imagine walking into a supermarket and seeing only one or two cash register stations – or no registers? Technology could be used to determine the prices of the items in your cart or basket, and an app on your mobile device could make the payment instantly.

The future is coming fast, but you’d better bring a Smartphone.