Self-Service Trends

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Self-service technology is one of the few winners in the economic crisis.
 
By Björn Weber, Retail Technology Research Director, Planet Retail.
New research from Planet Retail shows that self-service technology is continuing to thrive in 2009’s difficult economic climate. Its latest report, “Selfservice Checkouts: How the next generation of self-service changes retailing”, predicts the global number of stores with some kind of self-service checkout technology will triple by the end of 2013 at the latest.
 
According to the report findings, in the tough economic environment, retailers have shifted their IT budgets, looking for ways to cut costs and to employ staff more efficiently without sacrificing customer satisfaction.
 
“For shoppers, queuing at the checkout is one of the most frustrating in store experiences,” explains Björn Weber, Planet Retail’s Retail Technology Research Director.
Consequently, key players in global retailing, such as Carrefour and IKEA, have begun rolling out self-service check outs at a faster pace. Motivated by a new generation of technology available, offering significantly improved user-friendliness, design, item-handling as well as payment processes, and spurred by the roll-out speed of self-service in the travel industry, major retail companies in Europe have been embarking on projects over the last 12 months and other retailers are likely to follow suit.
 
One of the advantages for European retailers who are new to self-service is that they can utilise the new generation of technology faster than their North American counterparts, of which almost all (with the remarkable exception of Target) have been deploying older-generation self-checkout technologies for many years.
 
In some countries, such as France and Belgium, the number of stores with any kind of self-service checkout technology is likely to triple by summer 2011. Other countries, such as the US and UK, which already have a large number of stores with self-checkout or self-scanning, will see numbers double, but not before the end of 2012.
In countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain, where retailers have been only engaged in testing so far, it is likely that major implementation projects will start, but not before 2011. Given that retailers in emerging markets are now also starting to deploy self-service checkout technologies and based on various surveys of national retail bodies in highly developed markets, it is fair to say that the global number of stores with one of these technologies will triple by the end of 2013 at the latest.
 
Further proof of this growing trend is the implementation of self-checkouts in non-food stores and for the very first time, at retail outlets in emerging markets.
 
Kingfisher’s British DIY operation B&Q is now rolling out machines with weighing scales as a built-in theft control that can also cope with bulky items. For B&Q, Wincor Nixdorf developed a solution that can even weigh roof battens and cement bags. Now sports equipment retailer Decathlon in France has ordered a large number of self-checkouts from Wincor. Metro Group’s electronic retail banner, Saturn, has equipped 12 of its stores with self-checkouts from the German POS specialist and will implement the systems in all newly opened outlets.
 
A good example of a successful implementation was the introduction of self-checkouts at Maxima in Lithuania and Latvia. The vendor of the technology, Wincor Nixdorf, supported the retailer with consultation on an extensive marketing campaign built around the new checkouts. A racing car was rolled into the store. Girls dressed in Formula 1 outfits were waving winners’ cups and posing with men dressed as racing drivers around the self-checkouts. The message was clear: shopping is speeding up. The message was well received by Maxima customers used to waiting in long queues. Maxima is now rolling out the self-checkouts across its stores in Lithuania and Latvia.