Retailers and Shoppers Aren't Just Checking Out Self-checkout.
They're Checking In.

After a decade of evaluating, planning, and testing…the results are in. Shoppers are embracing self-checkout nationwide, and the supermarkets that have implemented it as a supplement to their traditional checkout operations are quickly gaining a competitive advantage. Retailers that were just testing self-checkout stations in a few stores several years ago are now ordering systems to supplement traditional lanes in many of their stores. Others that have been watching from a distance are now testing systems. The question is no longer "Will self-checkout be part of our customer service strategy"? It's "which system has the most features that will benefit our business and our shoppers"?

According to Supermarket News "The list of chains testing or rolling out self-checkout reads like a Who's Who of the industry…including Food Lion, Weis markets, Genuardi's, Giant, A&P, Tops, Meijer, Albertson's, Marsh, Winn-Dixie, Brookshire Bros., Balls, Wal-Mart, Kash n' Karry, Costco, Schnucks, Price Chopper and numerous Kroger divisions."

Retailers are searching for the improved labor efficiencies and enhanced customer convenience that self-checkout offers.

It has taken almost a decade for products to evolve, but now they offer the features that increase customer acceptance and store efficiency at the same time. In fact, where express self-checkout is offered, approximately 50% of shoppers choose self-checkout lanes over traditional checkout lanes.

Store managers are excited about the growing popularity of self-checkout not only because it can increase store loyalty, but because it offers a viable solution to the tight labor market and the associated cost of retail staffing. Front-end labor costs and staffing challenges rise as the economy improves, making recruiting and retaining staff difficult. Since self-checkout systems require less labor at the front end, these challenges become more manageable for retailers. As one retailer in the Midwest is quick to point out, "Self-checkout solutions are meant to free up, not replace existing human resources. Therefore, our scarce resources can focus more on customer contact and customer service throughout the store."

Currently, the majority of self-checkout options are focused on express lanes. But manufacturers are developing solutions for low-, medium-, and even high-item count orders. At the same time, manufacturers are building flexibility into their products. Some self-checkout systems will quickly convert to traditional staffed lanes and back with little change-over effort or cost.

After testing and installing self-checkout systems, retailers have found an improvement in the shopping experience and the customer's perception of the store. By offering an alternative checkout method, retailers provide something that many shoppers want…control over their purchase.

A key benefit to shoppers is the speed at which they can check out. When the shopper is in control, he or she sets the pace of the checkout process. In fact, check out time can not only decrease, but even when it remains the same, it is perceived to go faster because of the shopper's control and interaction with the equipment. Research also shows that shoppers want control over how their purchases are bagged, and they want to know exactly how much or little they are spending. Self-checkout systems that offer these capabilities in an easy to understand and operate system will continue gaining widespread acceptance.

Shoppers who have used self-checkout indicated they would use it again. This first positive experience was most often achieved when a "hostess" was used to introduce the concept to shoppers. In a recent survey, 60% of shoppers asked about using a self-checkout system indicated they would use it most or all of the time for their express or bulk purchases because of its simplicity.

Whatever the reasons for its new mass acceptance: more efficient use of labor resources, improving customer satisfaction or defending against competitive threats, self-checkout has clearly moved to the mainstream in the supermarket arena and is here to stay.

Analysts Predicting the Future of Self-checkout

Hometown, USA-Ever since the first ATM machine went into operation, Americans have been intrigued by self-service. At first we drove past gas stations that didn't have attendants, then we tried "pay at the pump" as a novelty. Now Americans are hooked. The convenience, speed and control of self-service is now expected, everywhere.

Over the past several years, shoppers around the country have had the chance to try self-service at the grocery front end. Whether it was a system where they scanned food as it went into their cart, or scanned and bagged their groceries at checkout, shoppers have responded in favor of the option for self-checkout. So much so, analysts now wonder what the next innovation in grocery self-service will be.

Keep It Simple. Real Simple.
Clearly, one of the key areas for improving existing self-checkout solutions is simplifying the shopper's interaction with the system. Let's face it, in a traditional lane, the shopper barely has to do a thing. Self-checkout developers have to be careful to offer "ease-of-use" as much as they offer speed and control. One way manufacturers can do this is with simple, easy to follow instructions with graphic illustrations.

"The company that makes the user experience as easy as pay at the pump will unlock the door to wide spread business and shopper acceptance," said one expert. "It's one thing to offer a faster, easier way to get through the checkout line. But if you don't offer clear, easy, non-threatening instructions, the shoppers won't come back to the self-checkout lane."

Many analysts point out that simple instructions that "walk" a shopper step-by-step through the checkout process is critical for minimizing staff training as well. The instructions need to be intuitive and clear for the cashier if store owners are going to see the labor efficiencies they expect.

Integration? What Integration?
All the experts agree that self-checkout solutions can't add complexity to IT integration if they're going to work in the real world. In fact, what retailers say they really want is a self-checkout product that "looks" and "acts" exactly like a current staffed lane on the store network from day one.

"Success will go to the manufacturer who offers self-checkout using the same POS applications seamlessly with traditional lanes, with management and reporting that is identical," said one expert.

Some manufacturers are saying they can go even farther, providing consistent balancing, accounting and reporting on both staffed and customer controlled self-checkout lanes on an individual lane basis. This eliminates both additional training and procedural changes.

Give Me Back My Checkout Lane
Current self-checkout solutions require the permanent replacement of staffed checkout lanes with self-checkout lanes. Most analysts agree that more retailers would add self-checkout if someone would offer a cost-effective solution that could be self -checkout when appropriate, and staffed checkout when store traffic patterns demand it.

"The key to success at the front end of any grocery store is flexibility," said one expert. "Retailers are more likely to make decisions that allow their staffing, planning and processes to adapt to their needs. That's been lacking in the self-checkout solutions that have hit the market to date."

So the future of self-checkout has been determined. It is here today and it is going to stay. Exactly who will come forward with the advancements shoppers and retailers would like to see? What innovations will manufacturers and integrators develop that meet the needs that shoppers and grocers didn't even know they had? No one knows for sure. The one thing that is for sure is that grocery self-checkout is growing rapidly and is here to stay.

Ask The Experts

In recent market research, retail operations managers as well as shoppers were asked to list the most critical requirements for a winning self-checkout solution:

Retailers