![]() Together with new exit gates that can only be opened with a valid receipt, Leighton was able to crack down on the number of involuntary thefts.īecause Spar stores are independently owned, as opposed to for example Albert Heijn, the financial loss because of shoplifting directly affects the owner, Leighton. This is the reason he bought the new machines, which automatically print a receipt as soon as the transaction is successful. ![]() “There are a lot of transactions stopped, blocked, failed and the people are already out”, says Leighton. Shoplifting occurs both deliberately and involuntarily, with the latter occurring mostly due to system errors. Self-checkouts caused a rising tide of theft. However, the self-checkout comes at a – quite literally – great price to the retail owners. At the self-checkout area, he needs at maximum two employees to monitor over 20 self-checkouts, whereas every cash register requires one employee each. “People do not want to work as a cashier anymore and the self-checkout simply needs fewer people”, he says. “It is basically impossible to find workers these days”, says the manager of the Albert Heijn Molukkenstraat, who prefers to remain anonymous. Intuitive reasoning might suggest that the decision was mainly economically driven, but retailers in Amsterdam resort to this measure mostly as an answer to the tight labour market. Since then, customers have only been able to pay by card in Leighton’s store, as he decided to replace the traditional register completely with the autonomous machines. This is made possible by the four self-checkout machines that the store’s owner, Vincent Leighton, installed around three years ago. Despite the high customer volume around this time, one rarely has to wait more than two minutes to pay and leave. Around lunchtime at Spar Science Park, customers flock into the store, yearning for a croissant or one of Spar’s signature frozen pizzas. From the big supermarkets to the mid-sized Spar, in nearly every store belonging to the major chains the machine can be found. It also found its way into our local Spar.īy now, the do-it-yourself scanners are unavoidable in the Netherlands. On its conquest of the retail world, it has increased revenue, efficiency… and shoplifting. I would expect a lot of visits by its competitors to these locations.The self-checkout – the reification of one person’s fears and the other’s dreams – has replaced much of the traditional cash register and reshaped the way we buy our groceries. “This move by Sodexo will add pressure on other campus dining providers to offer a similar service. ![]() “The contracts to run campus dining are often tied to the provider being willing to operate the small c-stores on campus,” wrote Steve Montgomery, president of b2b Solutions. Finally, the vendor is launching three delivery-only virtual restaurant concepts available through its app for universities for dorm room delivery.Īnd as one BrainTrust member pointed out, Sodexo’s high-tech pilot may not only change the way college kids shop for food, but the way food providers are chosen by colleges. Sodexo is also making available high-tech touchscreen meal vending machines offering 80 selections including ramen and udon. This is likely a better use case for metropolitan areas.” “Get them while they’re young! You definitely have a digitally savvy consumer here, but the test for true scalability needs all customer formats. “This is a great demographic to test on as they’re the future consumers,” wrote Brian Delp, CEO of New Sega Home. “College shoppers won’t reflect the average shopper outside of the controlled college campus environment, but it’s a good way to stress test the technology and concept.” “College campuses are also a great testing environment because if there is a way to game the system or trick the technology, students will find it,” wrote Meaghan Brophy, senior retail writer. Other RetailWire BrainTrust members saw an audience of broke and creative kids as promising a sort of educational opportunity that tech vendors can only get at a college. Opening these stores on college campuses is not a reflection of how they will perform in the real world but it certainly will capture the minds of the students as they graduate and enter the general population. “College students have little disposable income and are apt to try to game the system. “I believe this could be a loss prevention nightmare,” wrote Mr.
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