Quick, cheap, and easy are all words that many shoppers want to hear. International Automated Systems Inc. has unveiled self-service checkout systems that could make those words ring true.

The company, formed in 1988 as a research and development business, this month is offering its first products. Among them are U-Check, self-service scanning technology for grocery stores, and Order, Pay, & Go self-service kiosks designed for fast-food restaurants.

The company has been using both products at U-Check Supermarket, a 25,000-square-foot grocery store in Salem, Utah, that it owns and operates to test checkout units and analysis tools for sales data and automated management software that sends alerts about overall profit margins.

Self-service gets customers in and out of the store quickly and requires fewer employees.

By replacing employees with the automated systems, stores can reduce labor costs, which account for 50% to 60% of their overhead. U-Check operates with five employees at a time and has 18 total employees--less than one-third of a conventional grocery store. That lets U-Check offer lower prices than other stores. But what's more appealing to customers is getting in and out of the store quickly, even if that means they must weigh produce and scan and bag groceries, says Randy Johnson, VP of business development at International Automated Systems. "We didn't go the express-lane direction. We went the fully-automated-store direction," he says.

U-Check identifies each item by weight. Shoppers at checkout scan their items and place them in a separate cart attached to a scale. The scanner shuts off if items are placed inside the second cart without being scanned, because the scale senses the new weight. Cameras above each lane and one employee monitor the systems for performance and theft, Johnson says. The package costs $25,000 to $35,000 per lane.

The company says that two major fast-food franchises, whose names it wouldn't disclose, are interested in installing the Order, Pay, & Go touch-pad screens in kiosk-like setups to let customers order their food and pay by cash, check, credit, or debit card without employee assistance. Employees then bring customers the food. Made by Seiko Epson Corp., each kiosk loaded with the Order, Pay, & Go software is priced from $10,000 to $15,000.