Direct answer

The Automatic Cashier is placed in your shop to process customer checkouts automatically. It unlocks through early research (“Automatic Cashier — Place an Automatic Cashier”, 69.3% of players have it). In 1.0, shop selling rework changed how customers interact with shelves and entrances — read below before rebuilding your floor.

CategoryShop device
UnlockEarly research
EvidenceSteam achievement 69.3%
JobAutomated checkout
1.0 changeShop Recognition system replaced reputation
Achievement“What are you doing?” — cashier into Cauldron

How to unlock

The unlock is part of the first research tier: buy your plot, process your first harvest, produce your first potion and furnace output, then research the cashier. See the beginner path for the exact sequencing.

Setting up automated checkout

  1. Research and craft the Automatic Cashier.
  2. Place it inside the shop zone, on the customer path.
  3. Keep shelves stocked — the cashier registers sales as customers pick items.
  4. Upgrade shop sales upgrades (rebalanced in 1.0 into the Shop Recognition system).

What changed in 1.0

Three official 1.0 notes directly affect the cashier and shop:

  • Customer Navigation Rework — customers can now properly reach upper floors, so multi-story shops are viable.
  • Shop entrance — you can remove the initial entrance and build multiple shop gates in different locations.
  • Shop Recognition system — customer feedback no longer affects Reputation; purchase upgrades moved here.

Hotfix 1.0.4917 also fixed “customers could be blocked by the flip sign on the shop entrance” and 1.0.4930 fixed “customers getting stuck at the bottom of stairs”.

Known issues

  • Customers not reaching the cashier on upper floors — fixed for upper-floor navigation (1.0.4930); make sure pathing has no dead-ends.
  • “Sell Venus / items not selling” — items sell at the price they have when the customer picks them up (official 1.0 change).
  • Commission payout — purchase-contract upgrades were removed in 1.0; bonuses moved into Shop Recognitions.

The classic achievement

For completionists: “What are you doing?” — use a Catapult to throw an Automatic Cashier into a Cauldron. It is one of the game’s joke achievements and (per community reports) fully expected to work in 1.0.

✓
Evidence boundary

Unlock milestone, 1.0 shop changes and hotfix fixes: OFFICIAL. Placement rules, upgrade cost numbers: PENDING.

ℹ

Independent fan reference for Alchemy Factory. Game data refers to the current official 1.0 build (Steam, PC). Field-level evidence is flagged on each page with OFFICIAL / OBSERVED / COMMUNITY badges; amounts shown without a badge come from the official 1.0 patch notes or store descriptions.