The cashier, commonly known as the payment counter, is a supporting facility in shopping malls and supermarkets. It's used for customer payments and is often the last place customers linger in the store. The impression a customer has there directly determines whether they will return; therefore, the cashier's importance to retail stores is self-evident. Besides its primary function of facilitating payment, the cashier also attracts customer attention and plays a special role. Cashier operations involve not only providing checkout services but also courteous service to customers.
The facilities and equipment at cashiers have generally kept pace with technological advancements. In 1879, the first cash register was invented in the United States. Since the development of computer technology, the functions of cash registers have expanded, with POS machines or barcode scanners becoming the final stage of a store's sales system. Modern cashiers come in various forms: online cash registers include PC cash registers, H5 cash registers, SDK cash registers, and API cash registers, displayed in embedded, half-screen, and full-screen formats; self-service cash registers are becoming increasingly common in the retail industry; for example, in Germany, one in every 18 cash registers is a self-service machine. In China, self-service cash registers are also gradually being promoted in large supermarkets and convenience stores.