Will AI replace cashiers?
Updated
Cashiers score 43 of 100 for AI exposure. 42% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 28% today and speed up another 30%.
- 28% AI can do it
- 30% AI helps
- 42% Needs a person
Moderate exposure
Higher than 58% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 28 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 8 of them today, speeds up 8 and leaves 12 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Compute and record totals of transactions. Totaling transactions is routine arithmetic that software handles well. | 80% AI can do it |
| Calculate total payments received during a time period, and reconcile this with total sales. Reconciling totals against sales is routine digital arithmetic. | 75% AI can do it |
| Keep periodic balance sheets of amounts and numbers of transactions. Periodic balance sheets are routine digital record keeping. | 75% AI can do it |
| Answer customers' questions, and provide information on procedures or policies. LLM assistants can answer policy questions from store documents. | 70% AI can do it |
| Post charges against guests' or patients' accounts. Posting charges to accounts is routine data entry in software. | 70% AI can do it |
| Compile and maintain non-monetary reports and records. Compiling routine records and reports is largely digital work. | 70% AI can do it |
| Establish or identify prices of goods, services, or admission, and tabulate bills, using calculators, cash registers, or optical price scanners. Scanners and registers already set prices; software does the tabulating. | 65% AI can do it |
| Answer incoming phone calls. Voice AI can already answer routine store phone calls. | 65% AI can do it |
| Issue receipts, refunds, credits, or change due to customers. Software computes change and refunds; cashier handles cash and approval. | 40% AI helps |
| Process merchandise returns and exchanges. Policy checks are digital; physical item inspection stays human. | 40% AI helps |
Show the other 18 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Assist customers by providing information and resolving their complaints. Resolving complaints needs live empathy and judgement with people. | 30% AI helps |
| Issue trading stamps, and redeem food stamps and coupons. Coupon scanning is automated; stamp and benefit handling stays manual. | 30% AI helps |
| Sell tickets and other items to customers. Ticket sales partly digital; in-person selling remains central. | 30% AI helps |
| Cash checks for customers. Verification software helps; ID checks and cash stay human. | 30% AI helps |
| Monitor checkout stations to ensure they have adequate cash available and are staffed appropriately. Checking staffing and cash levels needs on floor physical oversight. | 25% AI helps |
| Supervise others and provide on-the-job training. Coaching staff needs people skills and accountable human judgement. | 25% AI helps |
| Help customers find the location of products. Physical guidance in aisles; AI only aids lookup. | 18% Needs a person |
| Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits. Physical payment handling; card terminal is the only automation. | 15% Needs a person |
| Weigh items sold by weight to determine prices. Placing goods on scale is physical; price math is automated. | 12% Needs a person |
| Request information or assistance, using paging systems. Brief spoken paging gives little room for AI help. | 10% Needs a person |
| Count money in cash drawers at the beginning of shifts to ensure that amounts are correct and that there is adequate change. Counting physical cash drawers requires hands on the money. | 8% Needs a person |
| Stock shelves, sort and reshelve returned items, and mark prices on items and shelves. Shelving and price tag placement are physical stocking work. | 8% Needs a person |
| Sort, count, and wrap currency and coins. Counting and wrapping coins is physical handling of currency. | 5% Needs a person |
| Assist with duties in other areas of the store, such as monitoring fitting rooms or bagging and carrying out customers' items. Fitting room monitoring and bagging are physical floor tasks. | 5% Needs a person |
| Bag, box, wrap, or gift-wrap merchandise, and prepare packages for shipment. Bagging and gift wrapping are physical, hands on tasks. | 4% Needs a person |
| Greet customers entering establishments. Greeting people in person needs physical presence. | 3% Needs a person |
| Maintain clean and orderly checkout areas, and complete other general cleaning duties, such as mopping floors and emptying trash cans. Mopping and emptying bins is manual physical work. | 3% Needs a person |
| Offer customers carry-out service at the completion of transactions. Walking customers to their cars is purely physical. | 3% Needs a person |
How cashiers compare
All occupations (923)
Sales and related (22)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $32,880 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 3.1 million in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- -6.5% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Count and wrap currency at the cash drawer
- Reconcile daily tender totals in Microsoft Excel
- Post shift tender totals in bookkeeping software
- Process card transactions and validate checks at the register
- Use Handheld computer device software on the sales floor
Safer roles nearby
5 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about cashiers and AI
Will cashiers be replaced by AI?
Partly. About 3 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly totaling transactions and reconciling payments with sales. Greeting customers, bagging purchases and handling physical cash stay with people because they need someone at the register.
Which cashier tasks is AI taking over?
Totaling transactions scores 80 on exposure, the highest of any cashier task, because software handles routine arithmetic well. Reconciling payments with sales scores 75 and posting charges to accounts scores 70, since both are routine digital matching and entry.
Which cashier tasks stay human?
Greeting customers scores 3 on exposure because it needs physical presence. Bagging and gift wrapping score 4, and sorting and wrapping currency scores 5, since all three are hands-on handling that keeps a person at the register.
How can cashiers stay valuable?
Work the cash drawer count and deposit in Microsoft Excel, since gaps between tender and sales need a person to explain them. Post shift totals in bookkeeping software and flag mismatches to a manager. Build strength in carry-out, fitting room checks and card dispute handling, which stay human.
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