Regular mode

While in what we’ll call “regular mode”, the Self-Service Checkout is designed to replicate the transaction flow of a typical self-service device in a supermarket. Therefore, below are a couple of things to note:

• The ‘Finish & pay’ button is intentionally disabled until users have added items to the transaction. While in this mode, it is expected that the units will be at the end of the process and users already have their food items on their tray. Therefore, it is expected that any users opening their account will be adding at least one item to the transaction. When designing the checkouts, feedback from schools and caterers was to disable the finish button unless items were in the basket to prevent misuse or users “pretending” to add items to the transaction before pressing finish.
• The checkout will NOT enforce any balance, spend limits, allergen or restriction checks at the point that the user adds the item to the basket. When the user attempts to complete the transaction. The checks will be performed when the user presses the ‘Finish & Pay’ button. If there are any issues, such as the user is allergic to an item or has insufficient funds, an operator will be requested to deal with the issue at this point. It was designed this way to prevent wastage (users realising they could not afford an item, so simply leaving it at the side of the checkout) and to reduce the number of times an operator may need to intervene in a transaction.
• Users cannot void items added to their basket themselves. Just like in a supermarket, if a user selects an item (or scans one using the barcode scanner) and then changes their mind, they cannot remove the item. This removal must be performed by an operator.
• If a user has opened their account but failed to interact with the unit for a configured period (10 seconds by default with an additional 5-second countdown), the checkout will automatically lock and require an operator to intervene. This is to prevent users from opening accounts and walking away, leaving their account open for potential abuse.

Scanning barcoded items

When using self-service checkout, it is highly recommended that all items that possess a barcode on them are registered into the system. This then allows the user to present the barcode on the item to the scanner to add that item to their basket. After successfully scanning the item, the barcode scanner will temporarily disbale for half a second by default, to prevent the same item being accidentally scanned multiple times.

Adding items via the touchscreen

Depending on how the layout has been configured, users are also able to add items to the transaction using the touchscreen. Items menus/categories will be presented down the left hand side of the screen which the user can scroll and select when the relevant menu has been identified. Once a menu has been selected, the items present on that menu will be displayed. Again, just like with menus, if there are too many items on the menu to fit on the screen, the user can scroll by swiping up/down on the touchscreen to view the remaining items. To add an item, the user will simply tap on it to add it to their basket.