Why Aren’t More Stores Giving Customers Hand-Held Scanners?
For years now, we at RetailWire have been reading, writing and talking about stores testing consumer-operated hand-held scanners. One of our esteemed publication partners wrote an article back in 2008 suggesting that 2009 would be "the tipping point" for adoption of the technology. Vendors of the technology have developed systems that allow consumers to use supplied devices or their smartphones. Various tests have showed that the technology is tied to larger basket sizes, more trips to the store and lower labor costs. Consumers love it and it works for retailers. So here’s my question, what’s the hold up?
A piece this week on The Cincinnati Enquirer website about Kroger’s "Scan, Bag, Go" technology reminded me that the chain has been "tinkering" with hand-held scanners for a number of years.
"It helps get customers through the store faster and allows them to bag groceries the way they want," Andy Lowell, the research and development manager for Kroger’s Cincinnati-Dayton division, told the Enquirer. "But we’re still getting feedback to make it better."
Kroger has actively sought ways to reduce the wait time at registers in its stores. The company has also touted its QueVision system, which positions sensors above registers and a store’s entrances/exits, to more efficiently staff checkout lanes. Last year, Kroger said it had reduced the average checkout time in its stores from around four minutes to 30 seconds.
- Shop & Stop and Giant Put Scanners in Shoppers’ Hands – RetailWire
- Personal Shopping Devices Preparing for Tipping Point in Adoption in 2009 – Retail TouchPoints
- Kroger pilot program could transform shopping experience – The Cincinnati Enquirer
- Ahold Chains Put Scanners in Shoppers’ Hands – RetailWire
- Kroger Loses Some Wait – RetailWire
Discussion Questions
Will hand-held self-scanning become commonplace in retailing in the near future? What is holding up widespread deployment of the technology in retail stores?
As commonplace as self-checkout lanes, at the least. I don’t see anything about shrinkage in the articles. I wonder if that becomes an issue after the test is over (when people are less likely to think they are being watched).
“Consumers love it and it works for retailers. So here’s my question, what’s the hold up?” Really? Are you sure? Because retailers usually don’t pass up on an opportunity to increase business. I’m thinking, how does this save me money when I go to the grocery store? How do hand-held scanners personally benefit me financially? Perhaps customers in the shrinking plain vanilla grocery store segment love it. The growing segments on the opposite ends of the hour glass, what do their customers think? Can you picture hand-held scanners in Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Costco, WinCo, etc?
I’m also questioning Kroger’s claim that checkout times went from 4 minutes to 30 seconds. Takes me more than 30 seconds just to empty my shopping cart.
I can’t see this becoming commonplace in retail until the younger generations keep aging. The current over 60s (just to pick a number) on average will prefer not to use the scanner. As the generations evolve, this could become the norm. However, I will go out on a limb and say personal devices will have apps that do the same thing as the scanners.
Well, we have a couple of very different questions here.
I believe widespread deployment has been held up by retailers’ lack of interest in having new equipment to maintain and keep track of (regardless of who pays for it). I have also heard (particularly around the Stop & Shop implementation in Boston) it’s a bit of a novelty and when it wears off, consumers just stop using it.
Having said that, with the advent of BYOD, why exactly would retailers have to provide the devices? Consumers have their own smartphones, and there could easily be an app for that. This would be a win-win for everyone.
Of course, retailers would have to bite the bullet and have wi-fi throughout the store – that has been a huge stumbling block for them so far.
PS Given that it was in pilot at Stop and Shop for about 6 years, I declared it moribund about 3 years ago. I just think it’s a non-starter.
Who has this kind of money? Certainly not me, and who is to say that the customer will scan everything they put into the cart? Kroger can afford this, but it will not be commonplace until the scanners drop down to about $10 each, and than yes, I’ll jump in.
If this was working so well would Kroger have been scanning since 2009 and only have it in five locations? Perhaps, but it is likely that this technology will be replaced by an app.
With an app, Kroger won’t have to invest and maintain in the devices, etc. It will still need to be concerned with shrink. Overall, this technology and self- and full-service checkout allows retailers to meet the needs of their customers and maximize the effectiveness of their labor.
Why “put scanners in shoppers hands” when most of them are already carrying a scanner, aka smartphone? When self-scanning with the smartphone eliminates checkout for the shopper doing the scanning (the wallet app), then usage will sky-rocket. Catalina Mobile at Stop & Shop is at the head of the pack, and has been at the head for a decade. Before they were Catalina Mobile (and were proprietary to Ahold), there was tremendous resistance by other retailers to get involved. Catalina Mobile bought them out, and I expect that either Google or Apple will probably buy Catalina Mobile. (Where ARE you, Amazon???)
It reminds of the old saw…
Big fleas have little fleas,
on their backs
to bite’em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas,
and so on,
ad infinitum!
Whoever acquires Catalina Mobile will play a dominant role in retail, way beyond what IBM, NCR and dunnhumby type businesses have played.
We’ve done research with shoppers in stores using these hand-held scanners. It seems the issue is still not clear. Some shoppers really like scanners and self checkout; others do not.
The specific problem with hand-held scanners is that it doesn’t really solve the key problems with the checkout process. Very few shoppers have trouble with scanning. They have more difficulty with the bagging and transaction steps. Furthermore, hand-helds do not significantly reduce the wait time in the queue. Depending on the technology, the shopper may have to register on each shopping trip to use the hand-held which adds an extra step.
At the moment, there is no one solution that resolves all the shopper issues with the checkout. Smart retailers will offer several transaction choices and allow shoppers to select the one they favor.
Speaking strictly anecdotally, the only supermarket to use handscanners in the UK was/is Waitrose. When they were introduced, I tried them, hated them, stopped using them. The signal has to be just so to work and getting it to work can take far longer than actually getting in line.
Watching other shoppers, there are relatively few people using them although this is again only on the days and in the branches where I shop. But I do know people who were randomly selected for checking so many times that they, too, stopped using them.
On top of which, there are just a few of us around who (a) like other people doing our checking out for us, (b) get frustrated and fed up having to call for help and, most of all, (c) do not want to see other people losing their jobs because we are doing it ourselves. (Or being sucker enough to work for free.)
I have only actually done a big shopping trip using handheld once. Based on that experience I would say the major roadblock is still bagging. A new shopping cart that makes it easier for the customer to use their reusable bags would be a huge help.
I agree with almost everything that’s been written, and won’t repeat points already made.
The key question for me is, “Who’s problem are they trying to solve?” My experiences in self-checkout are that it makes the retailer’s problem my problem. Not to state the obvious, but that’s an incentive that rarely works to drive consumer adoption. Imagine if self-scanning gave you a discount on the price of the goods.
My personal experience is that there are still many hitches in the process. These range from simple “scan again” and again and again… to trying to find the right code for the produce item. And unless I have just a few items, it’s much faster to have a checker and bagger do the work. Heck, if I’m already paying for the service, I may as well take advantage of it.
The comment “… and allows them to bag groceries the way they want” has me thinking of all the arguments I didn’t have with the bagger.
Paula brings up a great point with BYOD. Stores like Wal-Mart have launched scanning technology within their apps. With more and more customers bringing their mobile phones in-store, branded apps can provide insight on the entire experience from shopping lists to purchase. And yes, stores don’t have to purchase and maintain scanners if customers use their own.
Customers will use this when it offers more convenience (time savings), lower costs or both.
More convenience means the application has to work flawlessly; no chance of getting 90% through the shop and either having a product scan the wrong price, wrong product or not at all. Most of this issue concerns product information infrastructure, which is still very much an issue in FMCG.
The other hurdle is consumer reaction to multiple apps (one for my list, one for external coupons, one for…). Here, the only guy I have seen that gets it right (and frankly gets it at all) is MyWebGrocer.
This WILL occur.
Hand-held technology that is confined to use in the store may have limitations on broad-based acceptance as smartphone applications become increasingly functional. It is intuitive to me that shoppers would like to have access to shopping information both pre and during the shop, to aide planning, load coupons and browse the offerings.
With that in mind, I do like the simplicity that the Kroger app offers when it comes to the checkout process. Clearly if shoppers recognize the convenience of a faster checkout, the acceptance rate of the scanner will increase. But like all technological innovations, it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Some shoppers may be intimidated by the technology no matter how consumer-centric it becomes.
It just takes time to gain general consumer confidence and familiarity with technology. I believe Kroger may have taken one more step to cracking the code on the use of hand-held devices.
Shrinkage? Dead batteries and dropped signals? “Oh wait! I don’t want this anymore but I already scanned it. Now what do I do?”
Ms. Theory, I’d like to introduce you to Mr. Reality. You might have a lot in common…or not.
I would have to agree with the comments above: retailers tend to adopt new technologies cautiously, especially those that appear to require significant investments and that may cause concerns with possible shrinkage.
Yes, hand held scanners will become a big deal, and they will be called the iPhone. I can see specific retailer apps that permit consumers to scan and pay for items themselves through their phone, and receive a receipt via email.
Apple has tested this approach in stores, and based on my own experience, it is quite addicting. In addition, this approach will increase store engagement by employees and transfer associates from behind the register to in front of them working with customers.
Only retailer old fashioned ways and integration issues with POS and online systems can hold up the flow of progress.