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The problem with your second suggestion is that it gives the customer no recourse for improperly tagged/scanned items. Interaction with a human or checkout system before leaving the store is necessary, given how ripe for abuse a totally automated checkout system would be.

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Agreed - I think there's also the issue of people needing to be pre-registered with such a system, and not being able to accept cash. I would expect that in the future, systems like that will be an "express lane" for the particularly prepared, but not necessarily the default.

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