Self-Checkouts Migrating to Returns, Deli Counter (Touch Points)

NCR Corp. product manager Kathy Dawidowicz has a favorite anecdote when making presentations about the company’s FastLane self-checkout machines.

“My mother is 82,” she says, “and she won’t pay for gas at the pump. She won’t use an ATM. But she will use self-checkout.

“Now, maybe that’s because of what I do, but I think it shows it is less intimidating than other self-service options.”

It has been 10 years since the first NCR FastLane self-checkout kiosk was installed and the technology continues to evolve and expand.

According to research by IHL Consulting Group of Franklin, Tenn., consumers spent $137 billion on self-checkout transactions at retailers in 2006, an increase of 24 percent from 2005 thanks to increased deployment at Wal-Mart Supercenters, warehouse clubs and do-it-yourself stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot.

The IHL Group’s seventh annual report on self-checkout noted NCR as a relative latecomer to the industry, but the Dayton, Ohio-based company took the market lead in 2003 with 61 percent of shipments and had gross revenue of $6.14 billion in 2006.

The report contains a wealth of information, including which automated voice customers would prefer to hear.

The survey of 1,000 consumers revealed 16 percent would be more likely to use self-checkout if they could choose the voice and 21 percent of those would prefer Tom Brokaw or Walter Cronkite. “The Movie Trailer Guy” Dan LaFontaine was the choice of 13 percent and Darth Vader pulled a strong third at 12 percent.

But converting consumers to self-checkout users doesn’t take joining the Dark Side. IHL found the “magic number” for uses correlating to a positive opinion of the process was six transactions.

Americans Embrace Self-Check Kiosks

Americans are far ahead of their European counterparts when it comes to embracing self-checkouts, Dawidowicz said. With more retailers offering the option, NCR’s next move was introducing “self-return” kiosks and “order-and-pay” deli kiosks at a trade fair in New York Jan. 13-16.

The deli kiosk is simple enough: customers can order a sandwich with their favorite fixings or a pound of ham, pay and the order prints behind the counter.

At the self-return kiosk, customers scan the item they are returning, scan the receipt and then the retailer has the opportunity to ask questions about why the product is being returned.

Four self-return kiosks can replace two assisted service lanes, which frees up employees to be redeployed to other areas.

Some who had a negative opinion of self-checkout said they felt as though jobs were being taken away, but Dawidowicz said most retailers are taking advantage of increased flow through checkout lanes to put employees where they are more needed.

Some retailers have seen up to a 40 percent increase in “through-put,” the amount of customers moving through a checkout lane. As self-checkout expands to more “Big Box” retailers, future innovations can encompass RFID technology and even biometrics that can identify repeat customers if they choose.

“Customers are now starting to demand self-service as an option,” she said.