KROGER TESTS SELF-SERVICE CHECKSTANDS

DENISE ZIMMERMAN

MIDDLETOWN, Ky. -- A test of self-service checkstands was launched at a Kroger store here that will likely host future pilot programs such as computer-assisted ordering.

Nearly all products sold in the 63,000-square-foot store are scannable at the front-end, an important component of self-checkout systems that enable shoppers to scan, bag and pay for their purchases, said Don Emrah, manager of store operation services at Kroger's Louisville, Ky., KMA.

The store's high scan rate will also be critical to a pilot test of computer-assisted ordering that will be launched here in January, Emrah told SN.

In the month ahead, the Kroger division will monitor customer traffic moving through the four self-checkout stations installed here last month before deciding whether to continue or expand the test.

"It looks very favorable at this time," Emrah said, noting a "substantial" number of shoppers were using the self-service checkout system.

"Right now we are training customers to use it, so we could be getting inflated numbers. We have two or three employees at the stations asking customers, 'Would you like to try it? We'll show you how.' "

The four self-scan checkstands were installed June 8 and are configured in pairs, with two stations accepting cash-only transactions and two stations accepting personal checks, credit, debit and food stamps.

The units feature computer monitors that prompt shoppers through the process, accept payment and dispense receipts, allowing cash and debit customers to check out their purchases without employee involvement. Other forms of tender require assistance of a cashier who monitors all self-service transactions from a separate counter.

Emrah said the ability to assign one employee to oversee transactions at four stations is an important advantage to Kroger, which, like others in the service industry, is struggling to staff stores from an ever-shrinking hiring pool.

"We are hoping this will help us do a better job of servicing our customers with the level of employment we have," Emrah said.

The jobless rate in the Louisville metropolitan market stood at 4.2%, compared with 5.8% nationally, in April, the most recent period for which figures were available, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington.

"We don't see this employment thing going away," Emrah said. "It's not going to get better overnight. It's going to get worse."

Emrah said he expects customer self-scanning technology to pick up momentum in the supermarket industry.

"I think its time is approaching," he said. "You'll see this being used pretty extensively over the next few years by various grocers. Somewhere down the road you will see this -- in some form or fashion -- become an integral part of the grocery retailing industry."

To date, self-scanning technology has been tested, but not widely implemented, by major retailers like Pathmark Stores, Woodbridge, N.J.; A&P, Montvale, N.J., and another division of Kroger, Columbus, Ohio.

The self-service system at the Louisville Kroger division was provided by Optimal Robotics, Plattsburg, N.Y. The other U.S. supplier of stationary self-service checkstands with commercial installations is Productivity Solutions, Jacksonville, Fla. A variation on the self-service concept -- based on hand-held portable scanners from Symbol Technologies, Bohemia, N.Y., may be tested this fall at Finast, Maple Heights, Ohio.

Availability of reliable scan data can open the door to new initiatives such as computer-assisted ordering, which the Louisville Kroger KMA plans to test in January. Computer-assisted ordering draws from daily point-of-sale scan data to generate warehouse orders to replenish store shelves.

"The industry is looking at computer-assisted ordering, which ties in with this, because with CAO you must be able to scan every item and have accurate scan data. The new generation of point-of-sale systems is giving us this along with a lot of other things."