Should lottery tickets be sold at self-checkout lanes?

Self-checkout has changed the way we shop. We aren’t unloading our cart and waiting for a cashier anymore. Instead, more and more shoppers are scanning their own groceries. They are bagging everything themselves. Tapping a card to pay and then leaving. Depending on who you talk to, that’s either wonderfully convenient or one more job customers somehow ended up doing for free. Now, it seems like the lottery wants a spot at the self-checkout lane, too.

This is more than specialized lottery vending machines. This summer, Loto-Québec announced plans to test lottery purchases directly through self-service checkout stations at major retailers. This would allow customers to add games like Lotto Max or Lotto 6/49 while paying for their groceries. To make it even more convenient, tickets can be printed on the same paper as the customer’s receipt.

In the United States, we’re already seeing some of this take place. Texas has offered lottery tickets printed at regular checkout lanes for years. Put this all together, and the question isn’t as futuristic as it might sound: Should buying a Powerball ticket be as easy as scanning a gallon of milk? There are plenty of reasons to say yes. There are also plenty of good reasons to be cautious.

Lottery sales are running into the self-checkout problem

When buying a lottery ticket, you always had to do one thing: have an interaction with a cashier. However, that’s becoming less common in stores.

Think about how many lottery purchases take place. You’re paying for your gas and notice the Powerball jackpot sign. You decide to get a $2 ticket. You’re out buying groceries, and see the scratch-off tickets behind the counter. Might as well buy one, right?

What happens if you never visit the counter? That’s becoming a problem for lotteries and retailers.

According to a 2025 report from NACS, which represents the convenience and fuel retailing industry, it highlighted concerns that self-checkout can actually hurt lottery sales. Lottery technology company Abacus has held conversations with several major U.S. retailers, which suggested that lottery sales fell between 10% and 40% after self-checkout lanes were introduced.

The explanation behind this drop isn’t complicated. Lottery tickets are usually somewhere else. If I’m already scanning my groceries, why would I finish that transaction, walk to another counter, potentially wait in another line, and then buy a lottery ticket?

Most people won’t do that. So, state lotteries have two options: hope shoppers change their behavior or bring lottery tickets to wherever shoppers are going, which is increasingly at the self-checkout lane.

Canada is leading the way

In Canada, Quebec is giving us one of the clearest examples of what lottery sales could eventually look like. Loto-Québec announced in June that it would expand testing of lottery purchases through self-checkout stations at retailers, including Maxi, Walmart, and Costco.

It’s a pretty simple concept: a shopper is already buying groceries. While they are checking out, the customer can choose a draw game, such as Lotto Max or Lotto 6/49. Instead of making that customer go to a separate lottery machine or go to a staffed counter, the lottery ticket can be printed right through the checkout system.

Americans are familiar with lottery vending machines, but this is different. Those machines are self-service, but they’re still in a separate spot. You are going to these kiosks specifically to buy a lottery ticket.

Putting the lottery right inside a grocery self-checkout changes the equation. Now you’re being offered a ticket while you’re doing something completely unrelated. This brings convenience to the lottery player. It could also make lottery purchases more impulsive.

The biggest advantage: convenience

From the player’s perspective, the argument for self-checkout lottery sales is strong. There is no second line to go to. No having to ask a cashier for a ticket. No holding up the person behind you while you decide on getting a Powerball, Mega Millions, or Millionaire for Life ticket. You can scan your groceries, pick up a Powerball Quick Pick ticket, and pay for it all in just one transaction.

This is also a benefit for retailers. Cashiers don’t need to stop what they’re doing to process every lottery purchase. Stores can continue selling tickets even as more customers switch to self-service checkout.

In Texas, they’ve already shown that lottery tickets don’t necessarily need to come from traditional lottery terminals. Texas introduced its Receipt Ticket concept in 2019. They became the first U.S. lottery to offer draw-game tickets printed on plain cash-register receipt paper. This program was initially tested with H-E-B and later expanded to checkout lanes at select locations. The program is still in place today. Today, participating Texas retailers can sell Powerball and Mega Millions Quick Picks in-lane, with the official ticket being printed by the register.

This isn’t the same as letting customers add tickets at self-checkout, but it’s a significant step toward the lottery becoming integrated into the normal checkout experience.

How do you keep kids from buying tickets?

Convenience meets reality when you consider that lottery tickets are an age-restricted product. If a teenager scans an energy drink at self-checkout, that’s one thing. If that same teen can just tap a button and buy five lottery tickets, then we have a problem.

However, this isn’t an unsolvable problem. Ontario’s regulations require players buying tickets through these qualified self-serve lottery terminals to provide identification showing they’re at least 18.

Atlantic Lottery’s self-service terminals similarly require age verification before customers can use them. A driver’s license is scanned to confirm the player is at least 19. Also, the Atlantic Lottery states that personal information isn’t collected through this process.

In the United States, we are already using similar technology. The Texas Lottery self-service vending machines require players to scan the barcode on a driver’s license or ID to confirm they’re at least 18. Like with Atlantic Lottery, the Texas Lottery states that the information isn’t collected or stored and is used only to verify age.

In Louisiana, their Lottery WinStations require customers to scan a valid photo ID and verify they’re at least 21 before making purchases. So, the technology does exist. The real question is whether we’re comfortable relying on it everywhere.

What about impulse buying?

There’s another issue that’s harder for technology to solve. Lottery tickets are already impulse purchases for plenty of people. You see the jackpot sign or notice a colorful scratch-off. The cashier asks if you want to buy one, so you think, “Why not?”

Self-checkout could take that impulse and put it directly on the screen in front of every eligible shopper. Imagine reaching the payment screen and seeing: Powerball jackpot: $800 million. Add a Quick Pick?

That’s powerful advertising. The customer didn’t walk into the store planning to play. They didn’t go up to a lottery kiosk. They didn’t even look at a lottery display.

This opportunity came right to them. For lotteries, that’s incredibly valuable. For responsible gambling advocates, it deserves scrutiny.

There's a difference between access and encouragement

Lottery officials have spent years trying to make games more convenient, which makes sense. We have seen retail change dramatically. Lotteries can’t pretend everyone still wants to stand at a counter while filling out their playslip.

But, there’s a line between making lottery tickets available and actively prompting people to buy them. We shouldn’t be turning the self-checkout line at the grocery store into a barrage of gambling offers. There has to be a reasonable compromise.

Maybe customers have to intentionally open a lottery menu rather than receiving a pop-up. Maybe we can put spending limits in place for self-checkout purchases. Or maybe responsible gambling information appears alongside the purchase option.

The exact safeguards used are up for debate. However, the important thing is recognizing that putting lottery games on a checkout screen changes more than the location of the sale. It also changes how the product is presented.

Retail workers won’t go away

We must also keep the employment question in mind. Self-checkout is already controversial because of its impact on retail staffing. Adding lottery sales to self-checkout lines is giving stores another transaction that previously needed an employee but now wouldn’t.

Keep in mind, this doesn’t automatically mean self-checkout will eliminate jobs. These retail employees would still be needed to monitor checkout areas, handle identification problems, troubleshoot machines, manage traditional lottery sales, and help customers.

And let’s be honest, if you regularly use self-checkout, then you know, “Please wait for assistance” is a message customers often see.

However, state lotteries should pay close attention to staffing changes that may occur as these programs expand. The goal shouldn’t be to sell more tickets with fewer employees. It should be to make purchasing more convenient while also maintaining appropriate oversight.

Self-checkout could solve one problem while creating another

There’s a fascinating contradiction here. Self-checkout may currently hurt lottery sales because players bypass the counter. Now, the lottery industry is proposing a solution that puts lottery sales right into the self-checkout lanes.

From a business standpoint, this seems pretty logical. However, from a player-protection standpoint, there needs to be more thought put into it.

If they make buying lottery tickets easier, then sales could increase. If lottery tickets are being offered during transactions people are already making, then impulse purchases could also increase.

Neither of those outcomes is automatically good or bad. However, states shouldn’t judge these programs solely by how many additional tickets they sell. Pilot programs should be looking at any age-verification failures, the average purchase amounts, any customer complaints, responsible gambling concerns, and the effects on retail employees.

Convenience is definitely one of the measurements of success for this program, but it shouldn’t be the only one.

This is probably happening

Let’s be honest, lottery sales in self-checkout lanes will be coming soon enough. For the lottery industry, they’ve always followed changes in how people shop.

We saw ticket sales move beyond dedicated lottery stores into gas stations, convenience stores, and supermarkets. Then, vending machines made it possible to buy without having to interact with a clerk.

State lotteries then created apps, which allowed players to check tickets instantly. Some states even sell games online.

The next logical step seems to be self-checkout. I don’t think states should reject it. If someone who’s legally allowed to play wants to add a Powerball ticket while scanning their groceries, there’s little reason technology shouldn’t make that possible.

However, I don’t think the lottery should become another automatic upsell. There’s a difference between giving players convenient access and putting a gambling prompt in front of every adult buying bread, milk, and eggs.

If done correctly, self-checkout could modernize a retail model that hasn’t kept pace with how people shop. Self-checkout lottery sales seem to be on the way. Before they arrive, states need to decide exactly what they want them to become.

Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.