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Self-Checkout 2.0
Dec. 1st, 2007 12:01 amThis evening after work I stopped off to do some shopping on the way home. Normally I have a habit of avoiding megamarts owing to their high, high prices, but Tigerlily suggested she wanted me home as soon as possible and thus to make only one stop. This is how I wandered into a Super Stop and Shoplift.
My initial list was short: food for the toddler and some medicine for sinuses. On my way in, however, I saw the display for the "easyFast" hand-scanner checkout. Basically, you scan your card, take the scanner, go shopping, then right before checkout go back to the scanner point, scan the ,"All Done" barcode, and pay at the self-pay heckout. I thought to myself, "What the hell, I might as well give it a look." So, I scanned in mymark of the Beast Loyalty Rewards Card, took a hand scanner and went on my merry way.
The scanner itself has a screen about the size of a large Blackberry screen and a grand total of three buttons. I would have expected the trigger for the scan itself to be a gun-style trigger but it was a big button instead. Still, decent design for Marketed Version 1.0.
The scanner made a beeping noise after I got it, mentioning that there was an extra discount for using the scanner on some items. First item it told me about: Ben and Jerry's. Yeah, guess what got added to my shopping list? I haven't had Ben and Jerry's for that low a price since the 90s. I got five pints, four of which are currently residing in the freezer section of my The Fridge, and continued. I checked the scanner for more discounts. Orange juice...
Those of you who have known me for longer than twenty minutes know I love to drink orange juice. My consumption has slowed down in my approaching-middle-age to usually a quart or less a day, but it's still a favorite beverage of mine. The store had it already marked down to about the price I could expect from Costco at current overblown market prices. But with the discount...
Should I mention I also haven't had not-from-concentrate orange juice for that little money since the 90s? I should, shouldn't I? Yes, I picked up several.
I did a more complete walkthrough of the store than I intended, but I still kept it moderately quick. I did have some initial confusion on checking out things, but I managed in reasonably short order.
So, my overall take? First, the bad: Some of the items had a difficult time scanning in. One pint of ice cream came out as a completely different Ben and Jerry's ice cream, which might affect their inventory process if they aren't careful. Additionally, you had to guess how many bags you needed going in to the store and then go almost to the exit before you can actually pay at check-out. The scanner would beep annoyingly every several minutes with cha-ching! sounds.
The good: it took less time at check-out, but this was made up for by the time it took scanning every item into the hand scanner. The scanner itself is reasonably ergonomic and not very heavy. You also have an exact tally of what your bill is, which is good for people who can't keep running tallies in their heads or who have to stick to a strict budget. This last bit is ineffective if you have a mis-marked item, but that's another post. Removing something from your scanner was about as easy as scanning it in, which is very good design. And hey, instant price check!
Improvements? First, if they had a simple check-out scan at each self-serve register. Second, if they also had spots at those same check-outs for people to drop off their handheld scanners for the supermarket people to restock instead of going back to the display. Third, stop the automatic switching between menus that it does. If they want to play up that you can get a discount on something, they shouldn't have it suddenly switch back to your shopping total for no reason. Fourth, a mute button. Fifth, a Guide button for how to use the thing. Sixth, if they want us to bag before we hit checkout they can bloody well hang some shopping bags around the store.
I can see more elaborate models with keyboards so you could include a store map, but I think its fine the way it is generally on number of buttons. I don't want to get carpal tunnel from a CrackBerry and I definitely don't want it food-shopping.
Overall? It's not really a time-saver, despite the hype, but if you don't mind the rigamarole it can save you some money if it has specials on items you like.
My initial list was short: food for the toddler and some medicine for sinuses. On my way in, however, I saw the display for the "easyFast" hand-scanner checkout. Basically, you scan your card, take the scanner, go shopping, then right before checkout go back to the scanner point, scan the ,"All Done" barcode, and pay at the self-pay heckout. I thought to myself, "What the hell, I might as well give it a look." So, I scanned in my
The scanner itself has a screen about the size of a large Blackberry screen and a grand total of three buttons. I would have expected the trigger for the scan itself to be a gun-style trigger but it was a big button instead. Still, decent design for Marketed Version 1.0.
The scanner made a beeping noise after I got it, mentioning that there was an extra discount for using the scanner on some items. First item it told me about: Ben and Jerry's. Yeah, guess what got added to my shopping list? I haven't had Ben and Jerry's for that low a price since the 90s. I got five pints, four of which are currently residing in the freezer section of my The Fridge, and continued. I checked the scanner for more discounts. Orange juice...
Those of you who have known me for longer than twenty minutes know I love to drink orange juice. My consumption has slowed down in my approaching-middle-age to usually a quart or less a day, but it's still a favorite beverage of mine. The store had it already marked down to about the price I could expect from Costco at current overblown market prices. But with the discount...
Should I mention I also haven't had not-from-concentrate orange juice for that little money since the 90s? I should, shouldn't I? Yes, I picked up several.
I did a more complete walkthrough of the store than I intended, but I still kept it moderately quick. I did have some initial confusion on checking out things, but I managed in reasonably short order.
So, my overall take? First, the bad: Some of the items had a difficult time scanning in. One pint of ice cream came out as a completely different Ben and Jerry's ice cream, which might affect their inventory process if they aren't careful. Additionally, you had to guess how many bags you needed going in to the store and then go almost to the exit before you can actually pay at check-out. The scanner would beep annoyingly every several minutes with cha-ching! sounds.
The good: it took less time at check-out, but this was made up for by the time it took scanning every item into the hand scanner. The scanner itself is reasonably ergonomic and not very heavy. You also have an exact tally of what your bill is, which is good for people who can't keep running tallies in their heads or who have to stick to a strict budget. This last bit is ineffective if you have a mis-marked item, but that's another post. Removing something from your scanner was about as easy as scanning it in, which is very good design. And hey, instant price check!
Improvements? First, if they had a simple check-out scan at each self-serve register. Second, if they also had spots at those same check-outs for people to drop off their handheld scanners for the supermarket people to restock instead of going back to the display. Third, stop the automatic switching between menus that it does. If they want to play up that you can get a discount on something, they shouldn't have it suddenly switch back to your shopping total for no reason. Fourth, a mute button. Fifth, a Guide button for how to use the thing. Sixth, if they want us to bag before we hit checkout they can bloody well hang some shopping bags around the store.
I can see more elaborate models with keyboards so you could include a store map, but I think its fine the way it is generally on number of buttons. I don't want to get carpal tunnel from a CrackBerry and I definitely don't want it food-shopping.
Overall? It's not really a time-saver, despite the hype, but if you don't mind the rigamarole it can save you some money if it has specials on items you like.
