Scan and go self service shopping
In a daring display of technological grandiosity, Microsoft and Amazon are set to go head-to-head to deliver the most advanced supermarket.
It’s no surprise that supermarkets will be the playing ground, as consumers have been trained how to use self-service by large supermarket chains.
The lynchpin for the new initiative is in self-service.
It’s an old trend, updated for a modern world that will see increased adoption in 2019. The first self-service kiosk dates back to 1977 and many iterations have followed since, most notably the kiosks many of us use in our day-to-day lives while paying for our shopping or ordering and paying for food in a fast food eatery.
Likewise, hotels across Europe now have self check-in, while in Dubai, kiosks are removing the need for front desk staff in place of an automated, self-driven service. It’s a trend that’s likely to propagate across verticals.
Amazon and Microsoft's "super" supermarkets
Amazon and Microsoft’s ventures intend to turbocharge the concept of shopping by introducing a system of cameras, scanners, and Internet of Things (IoT) to offer new functionality. In Amazon’s Go store, consumers are offered a “Just Walk Out” experience where they can pick up an item and leave the store without paying. The item is added to a virtual cart and paid for via their Amazon account when they leave the shop.
Microsoft’s takes a different approach: it gives shoppers a new way to interact with products. Digital displays replace paper tags and list products’ prices, promotions, and nutritional information. Displays can also be synced with customers’ grocery lists, for example, so they can more easily find what they need. Ads for the digital displays are in the pipeline too.
Ceiling-mounted cameras also collect data, for example tracking inventory and shopper habits.
Indeed, in McDonalds and restaurants like it, kiosks are becoming the de facto form of ordering. In the past, branches may have had two kiosks and eight cashiers whereas the opposite is now true, with many restaurants having only one or two cashiers.
Smart merchants are also using kiosks to expand their product portfolio by integrating their web and in-store experience. Many retailers have a large inventory online, whereas in-store kiosks allow them to unify both strands of their business to create an endless aisle for always-on shopping.
This self-service kiosks trend will be particularly beneficial for smaller stores, giving them the option to offer a larger inventory to their customers, especially if they have a physical location and a web shop with an extended product catalogue.