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Self-scanning tests at Wal-Mart, supermarkets register approval

By Jim McCartney

Automation is coming to the checkout line as retailers search for ways to use machines to reduce their need for them.

Discounters like Wal-Mart and grocery stores such as Rainbow Foods have installed self-scanning checkout areas in which one employee can monitor four checkout locations.

While banks with their automated teller machines and gas stations with their pay-at-the-pump devices have been leaders in automated service, now discount retailers and grocery stores are also trying automated checkout in their stores.

Wal-Mart is testing a system it calls "checkout express," which lets shoppers scan their own items and pay with credit cards or cash, all without ever talking to a cashier. Optimal Robotics, the Montréal-based company that makes the system, said other retailers, such as Target, also are looking at it. Target spokeswoman Patty Morris confirmed the retailer is considering using the system.

"So far, we've had a good reaction, although some people clearly prefer to use cashiers," said Laura Pope, a spokeswoman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart.

The self-checkout is convenient for shoppers who want to avoid waiting in lines or prefer to closely monitor what they're buying and how much it costs. For retailers, the self-checkout system can work with fewer employees, which means lower payroll — and an alternative for retailers who are having trouble finding workers. The system also is designed to cut down on employee error and fraud.

But there are drawbacks to the new system. Some shoppers may be resistant to new technology — or simply don't want to scan and bag their own items.

And by having customers do the work, instead of the cashier, the whole process could take longer — which could produce a logjam at busy times, like during the holidays.

Wal-Mart's checkout express system was developed by Optimal Robotics in conjunction with PSC of Webster, N.Y., which makes barcode reading equipment. In 1997, Wal-Mart became one of the first retailers to try the system at its supercenter store in Fayetteville, Ark. Most of the retailers using the self-scanning system, called U-Scan by Optimal Robotics, are supermarkets, including Kroger and Marsh Supermarkets. Wal-Mart's store in Apple Valley, Minn., which installed the system last year, is one of the first nongrocery stores to install it, said Rich Ference, Optimal's western regional sales manager.

This is how it works: The shopper touches a computer screen, listens to instructions from an automated voice, scans the items and places them in a plastic bag resting on a scale. Since each barcode includes the item's price and weight, the weight added to the bag must correlate to the scanned item. If not, the system alerts both the shopper and a cashier.

The self-checkout area (there are typically four stations) also is monitored by video cameras. And if a scanner hasn't deactivated an item's barcode, it will trip the alarm system at the store exit.

The checkout stations accept paper money and change, as well as credit or debit cards. Customers with gift certificates, food stamps or checks must go to the cashier assigned to the area.

Ference said his company's system cuts down on fraud or error from cashiers. That is, a cashier cannot pocket the cash or give an unauthorized "discount" to a friend — called "sweethearting" in the business, he said.

On average, about 30% of the customers who come in the store use the self-checkout system, Ference said, noting most shoppers who use the self-scan system are just picking up a few items.