Yael Kochman
September 29, 2026
People rarely remember a perfect checkout, but they remember the one that went wrong.
A payment that wouldn’t go through.
A POS system that froze.
A loyalty number that somehow disappeared.
A queue that should have taken two minutes and took twenty.
A problem with the checkout and your entire shopping cart gets deleted!
Checkout may be one of the least glamorous parts of retail, but it is often where the entire shopping experience is won or lost. Behind that final moment sits a surprisingly complex layer of technology connecting point of sale systems, payments, loyalty, customer data, compliance, and commerce platforms across physical and digital channels.
That makes Checkout, POS & Payments one of the most structurally important categories in Israel’s retail tech ecosystem. The category represents 7.3% of active companies, with 70 companies, while commanding a disproportionate share of investment..
It also has the highest average capital raised per company across the retail tech ecosystem, reflecting the scale and infrastructure requirements of technologies that sit directly within the flow of retail revenue.
The importance of this infrastructure extends well beyond the checkout itself. Payment and transaction technologies increasingly support cross border commerce, international payments, compliance, loyalty connected experiences, and multi region expansion for global retailers.
This category is explored in detail in our 2025 Israeli Retail & Commerce Tech Report, alongside seven additional retail technology sectors, ecosystem trends, funding analysis, and the Top 100 Israeli Retail Tech Startups
Download the full report to explore the complete ecosystem analysis, funding trends, category insights, and the Top 100 Israeli Retail Tech Companies.
Checkout, POS & Payments may represent a smaller share of the ecosystem by company count, but its capital intensity makes it particularly significant.
Key characteristics of the category include:
The concentration of capital reflects the role these companies play within the fundamental infrastructure of retail. Payment systems and transaction platforms have to operate reliably at scale, integrate with existing commerce environments, and support increasingly complex customer journeys across markets and channels.
The category’s funding profile reflects the importance of transaction infrastructure to retailers.
One notable example is ChargeFlow, which raised $35 million in November 2025, in a round led by Viola. The investment highlights continued interest in technologies operating within the financial and transaction layer of commerce. Companies in this category are solving problems that sit close to the revenue stream, from payment enablement and transaction management to systems that connect checkout with broader customer and loyalty experiences. That same connection between infrastructure and revenue is increasingly visible across ecommerce, where payment and checkout technologies are becoming part of a broader effort to remove friction from discovery through purchase.
That proximity to revenue helps explain why Checkout, POS & Payments has remained relevant even through periods of broader funding contraction.
The role of checkout technology is expanding as commerce becomes increasingly omnichannel. Retailers operating across multiple countries and channels need infrastructure that can support international payments, local requirements, compliance, loyalty programs, and consistent customer experiences.
The result is a checkout environment that connects multiple parts of the retail technology stack. Payment infrastructure can influence how quickly a retailer enters a new market. POS technology can connect physical stores with ecommerce operations. Loyalty linked checkout can bring customer intelligence into the transaction itself.
This growing connectivity also mirrors the broader evolution of physical retail. As explored in our analysis of Retail Digitalization & Store Operations, retailers are connecting POS, payments, inventory, shelf intelligence, and other store systems to create increasingly intelligent operating environments.
As Lanor Daniel, CEO of ShopperAI, explains: “As retail tech evolves toward more autonomous, execution-driven AI, value is defined by speed and ROI. AI systems that act, not just observe, are redefining physical retail. ShopperAI fits this shift by turning existing store infrastructure into autonomous, real-time floor intelligence that protects revenue at scale.”
As these systems become more interconnected, checkout increasingly functions as a strategic layer of broader commerce infrastructure, connecting the transaction with the data, operations, and customer experiences surrounding it.
Although Retail Digitalization has produced fewer exits than software heavy categories, reflecting its greater reliance on hardware and longer commercialization cycles, strategic acquisitions continue to demonstrate strong demand for technologies that improve store operations and customer experiences.
One notable example is Memomi Labs, which was acquired by Walmart, bringing virtual fitting and digital try on capabilities further into the retailer’s omnichannel strategy. Transactions like this highlight how retailers are investing in technologies that strengthen both operational performance and the in store customer journey.
More broadly, physical stores are becoming increasingly connected environments where AI, automation, and real time data play a growing role in everyday operations. Israeli startups are helping retailers improve visibility, reduce operational friction, optimize inventory, and make faster, more informed decisions across their store networks. As retailers continue modernizing physical locations, Retail Digitalization has become one of the foundational layers of modern commerce infrastructure.
This growing strategic importance is also reflected in our the Top 100 Israel Retail Tech Startups, where several companies from the Retail Digitalization & Store Operations category were recognized for their innovation and commercial impact.
Retailers can spend millions perfecting the products, stores, campaigns, and digital experiences that bring customers through the door. Then everything comes down to a few seconds at checkout. When those seconds work, they barely register. When they don’t, they can become the part of the experience a customer remembers.
That is why Checkout, POS & Payments matters. The category sits at the intersection of commerce, technology, and revenue, providing the infrastructure behind payment enablement, loyalty connected checkout, cross border commerce, and the increasingly seamless connection between physical and digital retail.
With 70 active companies and the highest average capital raised per company in Israel’s retail tech ecosystem, it is also a category where infrastructure, investment, and commercial importance increasingly converge.
Download the full report to explore the full ecosystem analysis, funding data, Top 100 tech, and additional retail tech categories.
