This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine's special section, FOCUS: Retail Self-Service, July 2007.
If you build it, they will come. But if they come and it doesn't work right, they won't come back.
That's the lesson SUPERVALU/ Albertsons supermarkets has learned since it installed its first self-checkout lanes in 1999. Beginning that year, Albertsons installed self-checkout in about 1,200 stores. SUPERVALU subsequently acquired 706 of those stores in 2006.
As the reliability of self-checkout technology has improved and customers have become accustomed to using it, savvy retailers like SUPERVALU/ Albertsons have found that proper staffing is the key to making customers happy.
"Retailers improve their odds of success with self-service checkouts when they train attendants properly and staff the self-checkout areas appropriately," said Kathy Dawidowicz, product marketing manager for NCR's FastLane products.
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| For SUPERVALU/Albertsons, self-checkout is another check-out choice it can offer its customers. |
Employees who staff a self-checkout lane are ambassadors for the concept, and do far more than simply answer questions. "They also have a marketing role, making sure they're pulling consumers into self-checkout," Dawidowicz said. "They have to encourage shoppers to use the lanes, training customers who might not be familiar with the technology and doing it in way that shoppers don't find intimidating."
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To maintain a high level of reliability, SUPERVALU/Albertsons developed a certification program for store associates who staff the self-checkout lanes. Store managers identify their most energetic and outgoing associates for the program, which is repeated every six months. The need for training is constant.
"When there is employee turnover, we ensure that every associate who assists the customers is trained and certified. And previously trained associates receive a refresher course," said Vicki Van Alstine, manager of self-checkout and mobile shopping for SUPERVALU/Albertsons.
The training covers all the functions on the self-checkout systems and basic maintenance procedures such as cleaning the cash acceptors and the glass on the barcode scanners.
"It's all about the customer experience and to ensure the customer has a good one," Van Alstine said. "If a self-checkout is broken or damaged, that's one less lane a customer can choose to use."
SUPERVALU/Albertsons sees self-checkout as a customer convenience. It's a check-out choice, not a labor-saving device. Consumers can opt for the traditional check-out, the express lane for fewer items or the self-checkout.
"Most important, self-checkout provides customers privacy, because not every customer wants to display the items they are purchasing," Van Alstine said. "And, customers can organize their groceries as far as what items go in which bag. Not every bag goes into the kitchen."
With its long history in self-checkout, SUPERVALU/Albertsons has worked with NCR to customize the applications based on customer and associate feedback. Calls about self-checkout to Albertsons' customer complaint center have dropped dramatically, but in the early days customers provided valuable feedback about what worked and what didn't work.
"Each time we get a dissatisfied customer, we truly listen to them to see what we could do to avoid the situation occurring again," Van Alstine said. Information gathered by the system also guided some changes.
"SUPERVALU/Albertsons looked at the data coming out of the system to help fine tune the way the application works," Dawidowicz said. "Retailer-specific parameters in the software allow them to suit their store practices. In areas like loss prevention and fraud, options can be set to minimize the interventions that would interrupt shoppers but still protect retail operations."
SUPERVALU/Albertsons deploys several system enhancements per year to its self-checkout devices, thus ensuring that customers who use them have all the conveniences of the other lanes. "If we add gift cards or Pay-By-Touch to the traditional lane, for example, we include it in self-checkout because we think customers shouldn't be inhibited from using it. We always make sure customers have that choice," Van Alstine said.
