StorefrontBacktalk - Self-Checkout Killing Impulse Items

Interesting new report on one negative impact of self-service checkout stations. And I certainly agree that you do spend more time concentrating on the actual checkout process, at least I know that I do. I wonder what impact this will have on self-service roll out.

In what's been called the self-checkout diet plan, retailers are learning the unintended consequences of self-checkout systems, as they see sales of candy, Hollywood tabloids, batteries and other checkout lane impulse items plummet.A very small part of the answer for this phenomena is that retailers are typically opting to not put such impulse items next to self-checkout systems, said Greg Buzek, president of the IHL retail consulting firm, which has just completed a self-checkout study. The core of the problem is simply the way consumers interact with self-checkout systems. Typically, they have to pay much more attention to choosing a lane and to watching their products and scanning them, thereby leaving almost no time for browsing magazines or otherwise being tempted.

Link: StorefrontBacktalk - Self-Checkout Killing Impulse Items.

Comments

[Rob Fields]

I recently experienced the self-checkout in two stores. The first was in a Wal-Mart SuperStore in Monticello, NY. There it was really unwieldy because it only accepted cash as payment, which really inconveniences the customer. On the other hand, the folks who were waiting to pay had plenty of time to browse magazines and gum because the customer in the process of checking out would have to stop every so often and feed more money into the machine. It was surprising that Wal-Mart chose such a basic system, unless their shopper data showed that many of their patrons prefer to pay in cash.

The second was last week at a Farmer Jack’s in Southfield, just outside of Detroit. This unit was better because it accepted credit cards. I made a mistake and skipped past the “do you want cash back” screen. Fortunately, the checkout person was able to override that entry from her screen in the next aisle and I was able to get cash. This seems like a better system: Card/cash-enabled self-checkout with human backup. BTW, in this case, I was definitely fully focused on getting through all the steps, so there was no browsing of magazines. However, as people become more accustomed to the new system, I can imagine a scenario when impulse purchases return closer to pre-system levels.