Save Mart's Scanner Scans DataBar, Cuts Shrink

MICHAEL GARRY

MODESTO, Calif. — Save Mart Supermarkets here is installing the Magellan bi-optic 8500Xt scanner/scale in the POS lanes of the 128 stores it acquired in 2007 from Albertsons LLC in Northern California and Northern Nevada, thereby becoming GS1 DataBar compliant while cutting produce shrink costs.

Aashish Chandra

The implementation, which began in mid-July, is expected to conclude by the middle of August, said Aashish Chandra, senior director of IT and enterprise PMO for Save Mart. The rest of the chain's 244 supermarkets — which are its legacy, pre-acquisition stores — largely use the 8500Xt scanner/scale, except for a handful that employ the Magellan 820x series scanner/scale, he said.

All Save Mart stores will be undergoing a software update to support the Magellan units, which are made by Datalogic Scanning, Eugene, Ore. With that update, the scanner/scales will be able to scan the GS1 DataBar on both coupons and loose produce. As of January 2011, manufacturers are expected to start transitioning to coupons that contain only the DataBar; current coupons feature the DataBar and the traditional UPC-A bar code.

The DataBar contains up to 70 digits of information, allowing manufacturers to include expiration date, more complex offers, various coupon values, better validation and other data currently not contained in the UPC-A code.

Save Mart is also upgrading handheld scanner units in the checkout lanes of its legacy stores, from the LS4071 to the LS4278, both from SofTechnics, Akron, Ohio, said Chandra. The upgrade, which enables the handhelds to scan GS1 DataBar coupons, has already occurred in the acquired stores.

The 8500Xt scanner/scale is configured in an “L-shape” to prevent lost sales of loose produce, said Chandra. In a one-store test, Save Mart found that the unit saved 2.33% of produce sales by ensuring that none of the loose produce — such an oranges or apples — rested on the non-weighing part of the scanner/scale. This saving alone, he said, will produce an ROI for the investment in the scanner/scale of less than 12 months, he said. “The 2.3% adds up,” he said. “We turned a DataBar compliance project into an ROI project with hard dollar benefits.” He declined to cite the cost of the scanner/scale.

The Magellan unit will also save Save Mart about $15,000 annually in lower power consumption, noted Chandra. It also experiences fewer mis-scans than earlier models, lowering the “actual scan time for a 47-item order by one minute,” he said.