Spending money is very easy. It's making money that's often not so simple. Despite the ease at which consumers part with their cash, stores are routinely looking for new ways to make shoppers more inclined to spend money, especially supermarkets. Scan-as-you-go technology just may be the ticket.
There's no magic number as to what the average family should be spending on food purchases, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Agriculture say that most consumers spend between 10 and 15 percent of their budgets on food. Make the process easier or fun, and consumers may be inclined to spend more.
Several years ago, many stores unveiled self-checkout aisles as an incentive to shoppers who didn't want to wait on the customarily long lines. These lines also save the store money because they don't have to pay an additional cashier to man the aisle. The trouble with self-checkout is that they really don't offer much of a time savings to make them beneficial.
"I still have to take items off the shelves; put them in my wagon; take those items out and scan them; then bag the items and put them in my car -- only to unpack them all again when I get home," offers Lisa, a shopper in Kingston, NY. "And half the time something goes wrong with the machine -- like it doesn't read an item or needs an override for a coupon -- and a real person has to come over and help me."
Online food shopping removes many of the hassles of self-checkout -- with food delivered right to an individual's door. Shoppers can also see just how much they're spending as items ring up in their virtual check-out cart. However, for the shoppers who like to feel fruit to check if its ripe or want to know the portion size by actually looking at an item, online shopping is not ideal.
A new addition to some supermarket chains is the introduction of the portable scanner that enables shoppers to scan and bag items as they go, supposedly helping to save time and money in the process. Ahold, Inc., parent company of Stop & Shop, Giant Foods and Martins, is one of the first companies to offer scan-as-you-go technology, called Scan-It, in the U.S. and throughout Europe.
Here's how the system works.
1. Shoppers with a loyalty card scan their card at a kiosk at the front of the store next to a display of scanner guns. A scanner will light up indicating it's ready to be used.
2. Disposable bags are available at this kiosk, or shoppers can use their own reusable bags from home.
3. Consumers walk around the store and select their items. An easy click of a button scans each item, then the shopper simply bags it as he or she goes. Produce and per-unit items can be scanned with handy print-out tags at weighing areas or with bar codes next to these items. The scanner gun keeps a running total of what will be purchased and even alerts to specials and sales a shopper may want to consider.
4. When a shopping trip has ended, the consumer proceeds to one of the self-checkout aisles and scans a bar code there to signal that it is the end of the shopping trip. The customer loyalty card is also re-scanned. The register tallies up all purchases. The scanner is left in a holder by the check-out area.
5. The shopper then selects a method of payment, follows the instructions and pays the bill. He or she then goes to the car with all items already bagged.
In order to prevent fraud and to ensure quality-control, shoppers who use the self-scanner system agree to unannounced, random audits by store personnel. They will check whether the items in the wagon match the scanned items in the system.
There are a few advantages to this type of shopping.
* Shoppers can see how much they're tallying as they go, enabling them to add or remove items to fit with a budget.
* Bagging while shopping saves some time at the end of the trip, especially in stores where cashiers do not bag for the customer.
* The techy and fun nature of self-scanning items appeals to the gadget-loving consumer.
* The scanner is an interesting diversion that can keep children occupied during shopping trips.
There are also some disadvantages to self-scanning.
* The shopper has to do all of the work without any additional savings on the cost of food items.
* Technology may be cutting jobs for actual people, much in the way ATMmachines have replaced bank tellers.
* If an item doesn't scan or assistance is needed when entering a coupon, a person may still need to be called, which can slow down the exit from the store.
* Bagging items in aisles can cause shopping traffic and be cumbersome.
Scan-as-you-go shopping represents the next wave of technology-driven conveniences for shoppers. The jury is still out on whether the concept is a novelty or has distinct time-saving merits for consumers.
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