We all have the experience of waiting in line for payment in the supermarket. However, with the coming second wave of automation in the retail industry, people will be able to get rid of this waiting. What makes it possible is a so-called automatic cash register.
All the customers have to do is to scan the bar code of each product through the infrared scanner like the cashier in the supermarket today, and then they can know how much to pay. They can either pay by credit card or pay in the cash register nearby. Of course, in the interest of the supermarket itself, in order to prevent someone from doing something, as long as the customer puts the scanned goods into the shopping bag, the cash register can automatically weigh it. At the same time, there will be staff to supervise the collection.
Experts believe that the emergence of automated checkout payment machines will make the profession of supermarket cashier farewell to the world in five years. At present, one third of supermarkets in the United States have installed the automatic payment device. Europe will also catch up in the near future. China is also likely to be swept by this wave of automation. "In 12 months, we'll be able to recoup our investment," said John Evers of hupewallou, a US retail group that has automated cash registers in 60 stores
The use of automatic cash register is beneficial to improve customer satisfaction. Home depot, a building materials chain in the United States, has installed nearly 4200 automatic scanning cash registers in more than 1000 markets across the country. According to a market survey, 10% of customers said that one of the important reasons they chose to shop at home depot was the automatic cash register.
The use of ATMs makes customers feel that the speed of payment is faster. However, it is not the case. The observation data of Cassino company in France, which operates supermarket business, shows that customers' use of ATMs is significantly slower than that of skilled cashiers, but the advantage of ATMs is that they can keep open for a long time. Therefore, the company usually uses four ATMs to collect money Machine to replace two or three cashiers.
At present, this new technology has not been fully promoted and utilized. However, if the barcode is replaced by RFID in a few years, it really means a real breakthrough for the automatic cash register. According to Webster, head of national cash register, RFID can not only shorten the payment time, but also store other information such as formula, cooking method or instructions on this electronic chip.
"Our most important job at the moment is to convince our customers of the benefits of ATMs," said eversman, vice president of hupewallou
