News

Supermarkets use kiosks to keep customers in love

June 29, 2004

Leading-edge supermarkets are giving the retail sector food for thought on how to attract and maintain customer loyalty.

Several grocery chains are testing new kiosk technologies such as personal shopping system terminals to help managers respond to the buying habits and preferences of individual shoppers.

Store officials hope that interactive self-service technologies can gain them a competitive edge and keep customers coming back.

For example, NCR's Copient solution allows retailers to use a Web-based tool to create highly customized promotions suited to the unique preferences of each customer.

The program goes well beyond discounts and rewards. Customers may join clubs, provide instant feedback and track savings with a swipe of their cards.

Your own personal shopper

Personal shopping system terminals are located at the checkout lanes as well as near the entrances of each of the supermarkets. Loyalty card users tap into an interactive screen that displays customized messages and unique offers that can be printed at the terminal.

Barry Kotek, managing partner at Retail Systems Consulting, said Copient and similar retail-oriented kiosk systems are aimed at tapping into that all-importance loyalty factor.

"In retail, 20 to 30 percent of your customer base makes up 70 percent of your profit," Kotek said. "Loyalty programs are all about driving customer count."

He said developers of the newer retail kiosk systems are becoming much more loyalty-conscious. These systems will keep track of a customer's buying patterns and tie them in with special promotions. "If you've always bought Pepsi, why would a store give you a coupon to buy Coke?"

Metro Group's program

Meantime, overseas, the grocery store giant Metro Group is building customer loyalty programs in its own unique way.

At Metro's Extra Future Store in Rheinberg, Germany, shopping carts are equipped with "personal shopping assistants." The carts, and kiosks located throughout the store, were developed by Wincor Nixdorf and its software partner Pironet.

Via a menu screen, shoppers learn about the day's specials and scan their items as they push the cart through the store. These electronic assistants also direct the way to aisles shelving specific items. Price checks are available at the flick of a finger.

A Boston Consulting Group study revealed that Extra Future Store customers were highly receptive to the PSAs and self-checkout service.

"Customers are really enthusiastic about some of the innovations," said Dr. Gerd Wolfram, project manager of the Metro Group Future Store project. "The study also bears evidence to the fact that the technologies deployed in the store have prompted a higher customer frequency."

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