If customers are satisfied with the services and convenience that a business provides them, a business will most likely have a desirable income. Aside from this, there is a great chance that the business will gain more customers.
Self-Checkout service is also advantageous for businesses during peak hours or peak seasons. During hours when there are many customers and the service staff are not enough to attend to their needs, self-checkout systems can provide an alternative. Berman Evans, from his Retail, Management: A Strategic Approach, indicates the following other advantages of self-checkout systems.
Shorter lines
Increased Speed
Privacy
Current Manufacturers
There are quite a number of manufacturers of self-checkout systems nowadays. Following are some of the software/hardware companies that develop self-checkout systems for different companies.
Optimal Robotics Corp.
One of the leaders in Self-Checkout Systems industry and is the leading supplier of self-checkout systems in North America (FashionWindows Online, 2002). They are the manufacturer of the U-Scan Self-Checkout Terminals that is being used in shopping stores and supermarkets. U-Scan is becoming smaller in size as compared to the first U-
Scan that they released in 1995.
Beetle/iScan
Another manufacturer of self-checkout service systems. Beetle/iScan provides a self-checkout system that can be integrated to other systems. it's POS solutions are considered to be among the innovative solutions in the industry of retail management technologies. From Beetle/iScan online, some of the features that its self-checkout system offers are Integration in the existing POS Solution
Ergonomic user interface
Variable in every respect
Free choice of language
Software that learns
Percon
The company manufactures self-checkout systems that can match those of the leading companies in the self-checkout systems industry.
NCR Corporation
Another leader in self-checkout systems industry that developed the current world's first hybrid self-checkout system.
Current Technologies
One of the current technologies in self-checkout industry is the world's first hybrid self-checkout system, developed by NCR Corporation (Griffin & Mayer, 2004). This system was installed in Metro Group Innovation Center, located in Neuss, Germany (Griffin & Mayer, 2004). NCR online describes this system as follows.
A self-checkout from NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) that reads radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, as well as bar codes"
In its current implementation, the hybrid self-checkout deactivates the merchandise security function of the RFID tag during the scanning process, thus enabling the customer to exit the store without triggering a security alarm."
Bibliography
Evans, B. Retail Management: A Strategic Approach. http://mgtclass.mgt.unm.edu/mids/shul/Berman_ch_02.ppt.
Griffin, J., Mayer, K. (2004). World's First Hybrid Self-Checkout Installed in METRO Group's RFID Innovation Center. http://www.ncr.com/media_information/2004/aug/pr080904.htm
Wolfrom, K. (2001). Self-Checkout: Who's Got Control?
http://www.businesssolutionsmag.com/Articles/2001_05/010506.htm
Self-Service Success. http://www.ncr.com/repository/articles/pdf/sa_NCRRetailTech2004.pdf
Serve Yourself With Beetle/iScan Self-Checkout Solutions. http://www.wincor-nixdorf.com/internet/com/Products/StoreAutomation/BEETLEiScan/Main, templateId=blob.jsp, property=DetailPaper.pdf.
