Jean Scheidnes
NEW YORK: Countless shoppers have silently sworn, while standing in line at
the supermarket, that they could work faster than the cashier, and a growing
group of US retailers is offering them the chance. Since the mid-1990s,
retailers have been installing do-it-yourself scanners to entice shoppers with
speedier checkout lines.
"One of the biggest complaints supermarkets face from customers is that
it takes too long to check out. This moves the line faster," said Gary
Rhodes, spokesman for Kroger Co., the No 1 US supermarket operator. Kroger has
what it calls U-Scan stations in over a quarter of its 2,354 stores, and intends
to install hundreds more this year, Rhodes said.
Self-checkout stations allow customers to scan items, process the payment by
cash, debit or credit, and bag the items, all at their own pace. A salesperson
is assigned to oversee the stations and assist with items that require weighing,
approve checks and identification cards, and deter shoplifters.
As the key security feature, the stations have a weight database, so they can
sense if an item has been bagged without authorization. Analysts say that
keeping lines short is key to enhancing customer service, a concept the
retailers are focusing on to gain a competitive edge and increase market share.
"This whole world is about convenience. Anything you can find that's
going to aid the consumer to get out of our stores, is going to be a big
opportunity for us," said Peter Lynch, president and chief operating
officer of food and drug retailer Albertson's Inc.
Life in the fast lane
For most customers, the new technology actually requires a little practice
before it actually speeds up the checkout process, some of the companies said.
During the learning curve, it can have the opposite effect of slowing things
down. "Companies' own research says it isn't necessarily faster. But people
perceive that they have more control, so it feels faster, and perception is
everything," said industry analyst Meredith Adler of Lehman Brothers.
Late last month, discount retailer Kmart Corp. said it was rolling out
self-service stations to about 600 stores, with 300 already in place. At some
Kmart stores, items processed through self-service are already accounting for
almost 40 percent of sales, the company said.
Other retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Safeway Inc. and Albertson's
are testing the systems in a handful of stores, but holding off on aggressive
roll out plans. Albertson's and Kroger say the systems tend to work best in
large stores in large markets, for customers with not-so-large orders.
Weighing options
Optimal Robotics Corp., the maker of U-Scan stations, claims that stores
recoup their initial investments in cost savings within 9 to 18 months of
installation. But some retailers are still debating whether the cost of the new
technology is justifiable.
NCR Corp., another maker of self-checkout stations, said it charges between
$20,000 and $30,000 per lane. "It's becoming more acceptable in the retail
environment but it's still very expensive," Wal-Mart's Tom Coughlin, chief
executive officer of the company's Wal-Mart stores division, said at the
company's annual meeting. Wal-Mart is testing in about 30 stores.
But Kmart and Kroger are confident that once the system gets humming, it will
alleviate the need for checkout staff, and thus enable stores to deploy sales
help in other ways. This amounts to a labor-cost advantage, and takes some
pressure out of the entry-level labor crunch stores have faced for several
years.
"With self-checkout, since there is only one clerk that oversees four
lanes, we don't have to hire four cashiers. We can reassign that staff to other
areas of the stores," Kroger's Rhodes said. In the United Kingdom,
superstores commonly offer hand-held scanners that enable customers to scan,
bag, and charge orders as they take items from the shelves, according to analyst
Meredith Adler.
"I think that would be a logical extension of our service offering to
the consumers. Don't be surprised to see us and other competitors there
someday," said Albertson's Peter Lynch. Whether American consumers would
prefer more assistance in the front or back of the store, more personal
attention or more personal control, what they have for now is more options.
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.