Small is Beautiful

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The new super compact SelfServ Checkout Mini from NCR has been launched, to extend the convenience of self-checkout to new retail segments.
 
Convenience shopping is now a way of life in Europe. Consumers want to buy fresh food as they need it and make spur of the moment decisions to buy an item of clothing or book that takes their fancy. Self-checkouts give consumers more checkout choice and help to deliver a faster service to improve the overall shopping experience.
 
According to NCR, more than 150 retailers from 12 different retail segments and over 21 countries use the company’s SelfServ Checkout, including some of the world’s largest brands such as AEON, Quick Chek, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Unicoop Firenze. The popularity of self-checkout is set to continue with the installed base forecasted to grow almost four-fold to reach 430,000 globally by 2014 according to Retail Banking Research.
 
NCR recently launched its first ‘super compact’ self-checkout solution. It is 50 per cent smaller than the company’s standard one-bag self-checkout, and is designed to enable shoppers to make fast purchases of a few items. It’s designed with the same fully integrated security features and only accepts debit and credit card or contactless payments.
 
Compact self-checkouts enable retailers to make more till-points available in-store. The new self-checkouts are suited to smaller format stores, for example in the convenience, ‘food-to-go’ and fashion retail segments.
 

 
At best-in-class supermarkets in Europe, up to 60 per cent of shoppers are opting to use self-checkouts. This frees up staff to keep shelves fully stocked and provide assistance on the shop floor. Around 40 per cent of the European customers that NCR has surveyed have been able to redeploy 50-100 hours per store each week to provide more assistance elsewhere in-store. A further 30 per cent have been able to redeploy between 100 and 150 hours.
 
In the future, the shopping experience will be far more personalised, based on individual people’s preferences about how they want to use a combination online, store and mobile shopping services. With this in mind, the company has recently launched a software platform to offer a personalised experience for consumers using self-checkout.
 
The new software features learning technology that automatically adapts to a consumer’s shopping history stored in their loyalty account. For example, when a consumer scans their loyalty card, the self-checkout will automatically populate pick lists for loose fruit and veg that an individual most frequently buys. This feature should further reduce checkout lines and wait times for customers. The solution also enables consumers to pre-select their preferred screen designs, language and whether they want to receive a digital receipt.
 
The company believes that its converged retailing solutions will enable retailers to differentiate themselves, lower operating costs and attract today’s empowered and elusive consumer.