I was at Stop and Shop today. Stop and Shop remains my favorite grocery store, even above Whole Foods. It’s not because they have good prices, which they do, and it’s not because it has a great selection, which it does, or because it’s clean and well laid out, which it isn’t. No, I like Stop and Shop because they have continually embraced new technologies in an effort to improve the shopping experience for the customer.
Stop and Shop was one of the first stores, of any kind, to have self checkout. They have a web-based service for businesses and home customers that allow them to shop online and have the groceries delivered (I’m actually not sure If I like it for the later market). They even have this weird Web 2.0 Video sharing site, that I guess is where you can post a video about your shopping experience.
Stop and Shop has been trying to get pay-as-you-go shopping of the ground for years. Basically, they want a system where you no longer need registers. What I saw today is probably the best iteration of this system I have ever seen.
You walk in and go up to this stand with a bunch of hand-held scanners. In the middle is a scanner where you show you Stop and Shop member card. On of the Scanner holsters begins to flash, signaling you to pick it up, along with a few bags to put your items in. You then carry it around (you can also mount it in the holster on your cart) and scan items as you go. Any savings from you membership benefits are automatically subtracted as you go, as well as any savings from the weekly in-store specials. The scanner even has an RF receiver that looks for RF signals as you travel through the store. If you are near an item that is on sale, the scanner will inform you on it’s little color screen (it also shows an image of the item, which is helpful). You can look at your total in the top of the device. If you need to remove an item you just have to select the remove option, and then scan the item again.
When you are done shopping you go a self checkout register at the exit. You then scan a code that lets the device know that you are done, and informs it of which register you are at. You are next asked to scan your credit card, and your receipt is printed. You dock your scanner as your leave.
It was one of the most intuitive devices I have ever used. Using the scanner did not increase shopping time at all, and the checkout was painless. The device was extremely simple and you can tell that a lot of thought went into its design. Why cant more people think like this?
