Using coupons at a self-checkout has always been a less-than-optimal experience. Either the store trusts you to scan your own coupons, putting itself at risk for fraud, or you have to wait while an attendant scrutinizes your every coupon, defeating the purpose of a speedy, do-it-yourself checkout.

Now, self-checkout pioneer NCR has come up with a system that skips the self-checkout lane and eliminates the need to scan bar codes, by letting you use your phone to identify items, pay for your purchases – and apply your own paper coupons without an attendant’s assistance.

What could possibly go wrong?  Seriously?  I can think of crap ton of ways to make this a complete clusterf**k – ever scanned on Amazon using photo search and have completely oddball items appear?

The Jet Blue Winter Sale returns, with tickets starting at $44 for trips through March 31st (purchase by 1/16).  They also have package deals (like Las Vegas).  Oooh, Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale – sunny skies and warm beaches would sure be nice in March…or next week.

Buying groceries online is becoming more popular, but many shoppers remain hesitant to try it. A number of surveys have found that coupons, or the lack thereof, are part of the reason – shoppers say they’d be more willing to try online grocery shopping if it was easier to use coupons.

You might think, then, that stores looking to boost their e-commerce capabilities ought to take shoppers’ advice already, and do a better job accepting coupons. So what’s stopping them? Coupons in the News article here.