HOME SCANNING BOOSTS BASHAS' ONLINE PROGRAM

DAN ALAIMO

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- A test of home scanning combined with online ordering has resulted in a significant sales increase and strong participation levels for Bashas' Groceries on the Go program here.

The retailer tested the home scanning system from BeeLine Shopper, Troy, Ohio, from April until last month, and found 11.5% higher sales by consumers using BeeLine as compared to other home shopping customers.

Bashas' had found that an obstacle to getting consumers to use its online shopping service was the time-consuming task of filling the "shopping cart" the first few times the service was used, said Mike Gardner, project manager, Bashas' Groceries on the Go. After that, the software remembers what consumers ordered and the online ordering process is shortened.

"We felt that if we gave consumers an easier way to fill their shopping cart, they would take advantage of it," Gardner said. "We are always aiming to increase basket size. We are looking at all of the tools that are available to do that, and BeeLine was one of them."

In using BeeLine, "we found that they did buy more products, so it was a very worthwhile test from that viewpoint," he said.

The sales increase was especially significant in that the four-month test did not use any of the additional features of the Bee Line program, such as health-related recommendations or coupon offers. "The scanner was free, but there were no ongoing promotions, e-mails or electronic marketing to encourage consumers to use it," said Leib Lurie, president of BeeLine.

"The results of this test show that when you put a scanner on a fridge with a booklet of common products, your shopping basket size comes up," he said.

The test involved 135 households that were already users of the Bashas' home-shopping service, said Lurie. All received a small home scanner from Symbol Technologies, Holtsville, N.Y., which is an investor in BeeLine's parent company, Airclic, Blue Bell, Pa., as well as software and a cradle for their home computers, a book of bar codes and a holder that mounts on the refrigerator.

To use the system, consumers scan the bar codes of either empty packages or from the book. This is uploaded from the scanner to the computer, which generates a shopping list. The shopping list can be used either with an online ordering service, such as Bashas', or separately for use in the store, as is the case with the Fulmer stores of Fresh Encounter, Findlay, Ohio. The software can discern private-label items from other retailers and suggest comparable products from the host retailer. Other retailers using the system include Martin's Super Markets, South Bend, Ind.; Busch's, Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Paw Paw (Mich.) Shopping Center.

The households were selected from a group of 180 that responded to an e-mail inviting them to participate in the test. About 70% that received the package set it up and used it at least once, with 85% of those using it a second time, and 75% of those who used it once used it three times or more, Lurie said. The consumers were given the scanners for the duration of the four-month test, although regular users of BeeLine are normally charged about $25 for the setup. Retailers often sweeten the offer with a significant rebate on purchases. Lurie noted that nearly all consumers who pay for the scanner set it up and use it immediately.

The system continues to operate and Bashas' is considering how to expand it, said Gardner. "The consumers that tried it, liked it. There is definitely a niche in the marketplace that this system really appeals to," he said.

While Bashas' would like to expand use of the BeeLine system immediately, financial problems at Independent Delivery Services, Windsor, Conn., provider of the retailer's online shopping software, have stalled that effort. Like many Internet companies, IDS has had trouble obtaining the funding it requires to continue operations.