European Cashiers: Sitting versus Standing

I was in the checkout line at a local supermarket and noticed the cashier was sitting down far enough for me to see the bald spot on his head. I guess I hadn’t really noticed that in the States all the cashiers are standing. The next store I went in here in Berlin, the cashier was standing, but this was a small clothing store. I started looking in each store for a pattern and what I discovered was every store that had a conveyer belt had a sitting cashier.

Possible reasons for sitting versus standing: I really don’t know for sure, but if I were to guess, I’d certainly say sitting would be more comfortable for the employee. A standing cashier might seem more friendly and I’m guessing this would result in higher sales. Standing also would require less space and have more mobility for the employee. The only advantage of a sitting cashier for the customer might be that the conveyer belt would be lower to the ground by 12 to 18 inches making it easier to move groceries out of a cart onto the belt.

Note: I did a brief search online and found an article on the subject.