Scandit has launched a new Age Verified Self-Checkout solution, which allows retailers to automate the approval of age-restricted items, helping to reduce till friction, improve compliance and reduce the time store staff spend on manual interventions. 

With store associates having to manually intervene on an estimated 9 billion age-restricted self-checkout transactions globally each year, the solution turns customers’ smartphones into a private, secure, instant age-check tool.

The feature uses face estimation technology, which asks the customer to take a selfie to verify their age in under 10 seconds using vision AI, as well as allowing customers to scan their ID as an alternative if needed. 

This means 80% of age checks can be resolved automatically, without the need for colleague intervention, while making the process x6 faster for customers, helping to shorten queues and wait times at tills, especially during peak periods. 

“Retailers are under pressure to deliver faster, more convenient self-checkout experiences, yet age-restricted sales remain a persistent bottleneck and one that only intensifies as self-checkout fleets scale,” said Christian Floerkemeier, CTO & Co-Founder of Scandit.

The launch marks Scandit’s first move into biometrics and has been designed with privacy at its core, with Floerkemeier adding the solution “automates compliance in a fast, secure and hardware-free way, which reduces intervention and optimises labour.”