(by Geck Finn)

By 2007, the US self-service transaction market could be worth almost USD 1.3 trillion, fueled by strong consumer demand for self-checkout systems, according to IHL Consulting. In 2003, US consumers initiated almost USD 128 billion in sales at self-checkout machines such as kiosks, and IHL Consulting predicts this total to grow by 73 per cent in 2004, and 88 per cent in 2005. Credit, debit and smart cards facilitated about USD 61 billion of the nearly USD 128 billion spent at kiosks in 2003, with many retailers reporting kiosks to account for 15 to 40 per cent of total in-store sales.