As self-checkout expands in grocery, here are 4 ways the technology is leveling up
Over the years, grocers have had an on-again, off-again relationship with self-checkout.
Right now, use of the payment terminals is firmly on the upswing as the pandemic-driven push for shopping options with less contact has cemented self-checkout as a way to cut back long lines, ease shopper anxieties around COVID-19 and untether store associates from the front end.
A number of grocers, including ShopRite stores in Delaware, West Coast chain Good Food Holdings and Hy-Vee, have expanded self-checkout since the pandemic started. Retailers like Kroger and Walmart have gone so far as to pilot self-checkout-only stores.
Self-checkout fits into the larger move by retailers to offer more self-service options, from salad bars to ordering kiosks at the deli, and free up or replace workers for tasks robots can handle. Research and Markets, a global market research firm, early this year said it estimates the self-checkout system market in the U.S., which accounts for 41% of the global market, reached $1.4 billion in 2021.
While self-checkout has come a long way from “the service robot” of the 1990s, it still poses pain points that can deter customers. A report by digital signage technology firm Raydiant last spring found 67% of surveyed consumers said they've experienced a self-checkout “fail.”
As self-checkout gains ground in grocery stores, technology companies are developing solutions to make them more attractive options for both shoppers and retailers. Here are just a few.
Resolving the “skip scan”
Retailers lose more than $60 billion in sales annually due to shrink, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), and self-checkout can contribute to this problem by making it more tempting and easier for customers to skip scanning items.
To reduce “skip scans,” retailers have turned to loss prevention solutions to help catch potential shoplifters at self-checkout.
In 2020, Kroger signed on with Irish artificial intelligence firm Everseen, which uses computer vision cameras to detect if a shopper didn’t scan an item. When a shopper “skip scans,” a video pops up showing a top-down recording of the shopper trying to scan the item — or not — and asks if the person wants to try again or not. After the second failed scan, the technology discreetly alerts an associate to intervene.
“When somebody sees themselves on a video, it’s irrefutable. That’s exactly what happened. We don’t have to argue with it and people self-correct,” Alex Siskos, Everseen’s vice president of strategy and growth initiatives, said during a joint interview with Kroger at NRF’s conference in January.
Eighty-percent of the time, customers will self-correct after watching the video playback and no associate intervention is required, Tom Arigi, Kroger’s director of asset protection, said in the interview, which was hosted by OmniTalk.
“The overwhelming majority of the time, this is somebody that is not intentionally trying to get away with product,” Arigi said.
Since using Everseen, Kroger has seen increases in sales, inventory and accuracy, along with shrink reduction, Arigi said. The partnership has scaled up to more than 1,700 of Kroger’s more than 2,700 stores as of January.