Grocery Store Goes Hi-Tech with Personal Scanners

A few weeks ago I was at my local Stop & Shop grocery store and noticed some new stuff around.  They had upgraded the self-checkouts and there was also a docking station that had several personal scanners.  In a rush I couldn’t play with the shiny new toys.  But, over this past weekend I went back in and took these personal scanners for a ride.

The idea is simple and brilliant.  Scan your membership card to unlock a scanner.  Then walk around with the scanner, scanning and bagging your items as you shop.  Once you’re done, dock the scanner at the self-checkout, pay via your chosen payment method, and you’re done.  To accommodate this, Stop & Shop also has installed new scales at several locations throughout the produce section.  This allows you to quickly weigh your produce and print out a barcode for it.

One of the things I found interesting about using the scanner was that as I walked around it let me know of sales.  Also, at any given time I could see how much I had spent, how much I saved, and the details of everything I was purchasing.

Overall I was really impressed with the shopping experience.  The only inconveniences were due to the implementation being new and the need to still retrofit the shopping carts with a dock for the scanner, as well as the addition of more bags throughout the store.

I can think of so many reasons why this is great from a business perspective but am really curious to hear your ideas.  So, in the comments below let me know what you think about this concept from a business perspective.  What do you see as being good?  What problems do you see with this type of technology?

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