New IDC research, and a recent roundtable of Australian retail leaders, point to the same conclusion: The value is no longer in any single technology, but in how well retailers connect cash, AI, checkout and loss prevention into one store ecosystem.

For years, self-checkout in Australia was discussed primarily as an efficiency question: How many lanes, how much saving, how to manage the queue. That conversation has largely settled. Sixty-nine per cent of Australian shoppers now prefer self-service as their leading checkout option, particularly for fast, simple trips. The technology is no longer emerging; it is the default behaviour for a majority of shoppers. 

What we are seeing now, both in the data and in conversations with Australian retailers, is a more interesting shift. Self-service is no longer being judged on the labour it removes, but on the revenue, experience and operational intelligence it can deliver. New research conducted by IDC for Diebold Nixdorf, The Evolution of Self-Checkout in Australia, found that 97 per cent of Australian retailers now link self-service directly to revenue growth, highlighting how checkout technology is increasingly being viewed as a strategic business enabler rather than simply an operational tool. A recent Diebold Nixdorf roundtable of senior Australian retail leaders showed what it looks like in practice, and how far the conversation has moved beyond the checkout itself.

What the research tells us

Two findings stand out. The first is that adoption is high, but tolerance for a poor experience is low. Shoppers choose self-service to avoid queues, shop alone or save time, yet they are quick to walk away when it doesn’t work well: Ease of use, flexible payment options and privacy all rank highly, and around a third say they won’t wait, won’t compromise on privacy and won’t accept a rigid checkout. Speed is now a baseline expectation rather than a point of difference.

The second finding reinforces the commercial impact. While almost all retailers now link self-service to revenue growth, 30 per cent report revenue uplift of between 21 and 30 per cent. What was introduced, in most cases, as a defensive efficiency play is now being described as a growth driver. When almost every retailer connects self-service to revenue, the decision to invest in it stops being purely operational and becomes strategic. The same systems are also becoming one of the most useful sources of in-store data a retailer has, informing staffing, store design and the customer experience itself.

What Australian retail leaders are seeing

If the research describes the shift, our recent roundtable in Sydney showed how it is playing out locally. The session brought together senior leaders from across Australian retail, alongside independent retail academic Professor Gary Mortimer and the Australian Retail Council’s Glenn Fahey. What began as a discussion about Australia’s incoming cash mandate quickly broadened into something larger: How cash, AI, checkout and loss prevention are starting to work as one connected system rather than as separate technologies.

On cash, there was broad agreement that it remains critical infrastructure, but that retailers are carrying a disproportionate share of the cost of keeping it available. The discussion focused less on whether cash should exist and more on how smart cash-handling technologies can reduce handling costs and complexity, minimise losses from counterfeit or unvalidated notes, improve efficiency and make funds available faster through automated cash management.

AI was the strongest recurring theme. Participants observed that AI has moved from an innovation conversation to a boardroom conversation, which reflects its growing importance but can also add layers of decision-making that slow deployment. At the same time, many acknowledged they remain in the early stages of implementation and are still working out where AI delivers the greatest operational value. The discussion increasingly centred on identifying practical use cases where AI can improve customer experience, reduce friction and support store operations rather than AI for its own sake.

That naturally led to trust. Australian Retail Council research shared during the session showed that 87 per cent of Australians have concerns about privacy when it comes to AI, while only 5 per cent say they trust AI companies. The group discussed the importance of consumer trust, transparency and clear guardrails, and the potential value of a retail-specific code of practice to build confidence across the sector.

The conversation about loss prevention reflected the same shift in thinking. Rather than focusing on enforcement, participants pointed to technologies that reduce friction and prevent issues before they escalate. Smart gate technology, for example, can prompt a customer if an item may not have been scanned, creating an opportunity to self-correct before any staff intervention is needed, acting as both a deterrent and a customer-friendly nudge that also keeps unnecessary interactions away from staff. 

What connected these discussions was a growing recognition that retailers are no longer evaluating technologies in isolation. The greatest value comes when checkout, payments, cash management, AI and loss prevention operate as part of a connected ecosystem rather than a collection of standalone tools. Hybrid checkout tied these threads together. Much of the discussion centred on the idea of “all lanes open, all of the time”: Rather than treating staffed and self-service lanes as separate channels, retailers are exploring flexible environments that switch between assisted and self-service modes depending on demand. At peak times, shoppers naturally move to available self-service options, which saves them time and frees staff to serve customers rather than stand behind a lane.

“What emerged from the discussion was that retailers are no longer evaluating technology in isolation,” said Professor Mortimer. “Whether it’s cash handling, AI, checkout or loss prevention, the focus is increasingly on how these capabilities work together to improve operational efficiency and customer experience.”

Global knowledge, local support

None of this is unique to Australia. Globally, we see the same pattern: Individual technologies maturing into a connected experience that draws checkout, AI, payments, customer experience and loss prevention together rather than treating them as separate systems. The retailers seeing the most value are those integrating these capabilities rather than deploying them one by one. What differs is how that plays out locally, store by store.

“Australian consumers are very comfortable with self-service, but they’re far less forgiving when it doesn’t work seamlessly. Retailers today are under growing pressure to deliver convenience, flexibility and trust at every touchpoint,” said Kristie Longhurst, GM Retail ANZ at Diebold Nixdorf. “Our role is to help retailers move from first-generation self-checkout to intelligent, flexible systems that evolve with their customers. Global insight matters, but success in Australia comes down to applying it locally. The future store won’t be defined by a single technology; it will be defined by how well retailers connect them.” 

• Diebold Nixdorf’s research report, The Evolution of Self-Checkout in Australia, is available now. To discuss what the findings mean for your business, contact the Diebold Nixdorf Retail ANZ team.