This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine's special section, FOCUS: C-store Self-Service, Oct 2007.
Not long ago, a queue at a c-store deli was a time to talk to neighbors and catch up on local gossip. Now a line is something to be avoided if at all possible. Busy consumers even may forgo making a purchase if a line is too long.
C-stores can borrow from grocery retail's experience and use ordering kiosks to help customers speed through lines at deli and hot food counters. They can capture revenue that would otherwise walk out the door, and, at the same time, make more efficient use of existing labor.
For example, managers at Norkus Foodtown, a chain of groceries in New Jersey, saw that long lines at the deli counter — especially on weekend mornings — were hurting sales and customer service.
"People would go to the deli counter and had to wait 10 or 15 minutes, and people didn't want to wait that long," said Bert Eichhorn, manager of information systems for Norkus Foodtown. Shoppers that bypassed the high-margin deli items were left with an unfulfilling shopping experience.
Managers added staff, deli slicers and scales in an attempt to do the same thing, only more of it, but it simply didn't work. Eichhorn turned to RMS-Touch and NCR to develop a self-service solution for the deli dilemma.
Now Norkus consumers enter their orders for cold cuts, meats, cheeses and other products into the kiosk. Each order can be customized just like talking to a familiar clerk at the counter. For instance, shoppers can specify the thickness of their favorite cold cuts or how much German potato salad they want to take home.
In each store, the kiosk enjoys prominent placement near the entrance to the deli section. High-visibility signage draws users who understand the benefits of placing their orders at the kiosk. Shoppers enter their order and the system produces a fulfillment slip for the deli clerks. Like any kiosk, the interface has to be user friendly in the extreme."It has to be simple and intuitive for people to use without training. If a customer has to ask a question, the software has failed," said Paulo Coelho, national account manager for RMSTouch.
Using built-in logic, the system calculates and displays an estimated wait time based on an order's size and type and on the volume of orders already in the queue. Meanwhile, shoppers continue through the store, knowing their deli order will be ready and they won't have to wait.
Eichhorn noted that the kiosks' placement at the edge of the deli department was vital to their growing usage rates. There, customers who use the kiosk will place their orders and go about their business without adding to the congestion at the counter. And a customer who prefers using the counter will see that the line is shorter and will be willing to join the queue. That way, Norkus Foodtown serves both types of customers: those who embrace the time-saving benefits of technology, and those who prefer personal interaction.
There's a growing segment of the population who prefer self-service even when there's a face-to-face alternative. "It's almost to the point if you don't have it, you're not providing a superior level of customer service," said John Saccomanno, director of food industry marketing for NCR.
C-stores would do well to look at food-ordering kiosks for better customer satisfaction. "If there's any anything we can do to make that customers' trip more enjoyable or help speed them through the store, we feel it's beneficial for us as well as the customers," Eichhorn said.
