Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt of a current article from Convenience Store Decisions magazine.
Will self-service checkout prove a viable solution for convenience stores? It just may, for some. At least a couple of the larger operators are already testing it, and smaller operators are waiting for word on exactly how the cost/benefit ratio will eventually work itself out.
Obviously, self-service checkout works for supermarkets. Indeed, British retailer Tesco has opened dozens of its Fresh & Easy grocery stores in the U.S., and all of the lanes offer assisted self-checkout. Motorola is even making a handheld scanner that grocery customers carry around to ring up purchases as they go.
But self-service checkout in convenience stores across America is "almost nonexistent," said Paul Burel, director of marketing strategy for U-Scan, Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc.'s self-checkout line. "In the States it's not hard to get cheap labor, especially in (the c-store) industry. They tend not to be at the higher end when it comes to the cashiering function."
Because store staffs are small - one or two people can run an entire store plus fuel pumps - the ROI on checkout systems "has been really hard," Mr. Burel said. "There really hasn't been an ROI, unless you take customer service out of play completely as a factor to drive the decision. It's a pure cost to put self-checkout in."
Perhaps the most obvious reason for the resistance by c-store operators is the space needed that could be used to stock additional products. Self-checkout systems, however, could be configured as pedestals that take up less space.
"The real question is, 'Would the convenience store feel that it is going to increase its sales because the customers will get in and out that much more quickly?'" said Mark Lilien, a management consultant and partner for Retail Technology Group in Stamford, CT and a RetailWire BrainTrust panelist. "I don't believe most convenience store owners would be easy to convince of that."
No matter what management's judgment, testing such devices remains a simple matter for larger chains. "The fact that so few chains have even tested it in a couple of stores indicates to me that the interest is hardly there at all," Mr. Lilien said.
Discussion Questions: Why aren't more c-stores - even major ones - utilizing self-service checkout systems? Should they be?