Retail Self-Checkout: Providing Options for Merchants and Consumers

Across all industries, we continue to see the growth in consumer self-service applications, from airport ticketing kiosks to purchasing stamps at the post office. A prime example of this trend is the deployment of self-checkout in high volume merchant locations such as grocery stores, do-it-yourself retailers and supercenters across the United States. While attended shopping lanes are preferable in some merchant categories, self-checkout delivers faster overall throughput at the point of sale and is instrumental in moving "single basket" shoppers out of the retail location quickly.

Boston, MA (PRWEB) May 21, 2007 -- Across all industries, we continue to see the growth in consumer self-service applications, from airport ticketing kiosks to purchasing stamps at the post office. A prime example of this trend is the deployment of self-checkout in high volume merchant locations such as grocery stores, do-it-yourself retailers and supercenters across the United States. While attended shopping lanes are preferable in some merchant categories, self-checkout delivers faster overall throughput at the point of sale and is instrumental in moving "single basket" shoppers out of the retail location quickly.            

Mercator Advisory Group's new report, Retail Self-Checkout: Providing Options For Merchants and Consumers, compares the primary retail self checkout methods, self-checkout lanes and in-aisle checkout, with a focus on the ability of checkout and scanning to deliver promotional information and other value added services to customers as they shop.                

In the United States, we continue to see interest in self-checkout from both consumers and retailers

"In the United States, we continue to see interest in self-checkout from both consumers and retailers," stated Melanie Broad, an analyst in Mercator Advisory Group's Emerging Technologies Service and principal analyst on the report. "For customers, the choice of self-checkout or attended checkout lanes returns some measure of control over either convenience or speed. For "single basket" shoppers, avoiding long lines and shoppers with large baskets is a priority. For merchants, the ability to consistently deliver a quick checkout experience will continue to impact customer loyalty and customer satisfaction."                        

In Retail Self-Checkout: Providing Options For Merchants and Consumers, Mercator Advisory Group reviews the current and future roles of the UPC and EPC in enabling self-checkout solutions. In addition, the report covers manufacturers who are currently offering products for self-checkout implementations.

The report discusses some of the drawbacks and issues that exist around self-checkout solutions from both the consumer and merchant perspectives. It also explains some of the drivers toward self-service implementations and where, from both a merchant and consumer demographic point of view, they make the most sense.

Highlights of this report include:

• A review of UPC codes (barcodes) and EPC (RFID) in the context of use in self-checkout solutions.

• Analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of both self-checkout lanes and in-aisle self-checkout solutions.

• An review of vendor self checkout offerings including NCR, IBM, Cuesol and Fujitsu.

• Discussion of consumer demographics around self-checkout and an examination of the benefits and drawbacks of self-checkout to consumers.

• Discussion of merchant value proposition around self-checkout as well as an examination of the benefits and drawbacks of deploying these systems.

For more information call Mercator Advisory Group's main line: 781-419-1700.

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mercator advisory group market research emerging technologies competitive intelligence self-checkout checkout lanes kiosks supercenters single basket self-service retail

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