After the 40th anniversary of the first bar code scan in a retail store, the new Tesco Extra store in Lincoln, England is offering customers a revolutionary new checkout alternative that improves the customer checkout experience by reducing the time spent in checkout queues.
Fourty years ago, Datalogic, a developer of automatic data capture (ADC) solutions for the retail industry, installed the world’s first bar code scanner in a supermarket. Today, its newest technology, allows the shopper to place their items on a checkout belt, in any orientation, and have them automatically scanned by the Jade X7 Automated Scanner. Items are then automatically directed to a bagging area just like traditional checkout lanes. This gives the staff an opportunity to spend more time engaging with shoppers and delivering great customer service at the checkout, driving satisfaction and loyalty.
Nigel Fletcher, a director at Tesco, said: “We are always looking for innovative ways to support our colleagues to give great service and to improve the shopping experience for our customers. Now, we’re looking forward to what our customers in Lincoln think of the new checkouts over the coming weeks and months.”
As the shopper places items on the checkout conveyor they pass through scanning arches which automatically read bar codes and visually recognise items at a much higher speed than a traditional checkout configuration. The items are then directed to one of three bagging areas for bagging and payment and the next customer’s transaction begins immediately.
The new, high-speed retail checkout for Tesco was designed by NCR allowing up to three customers to pack and pay for their shopping simultaneously. The combined solution is capable of automatically scanning up to 60 items per minute.
“We are delighted that a world class retailer and innovator, such as Tesco, tried our Automated Scanning system,” said Mike Doyle, Datalogic’s UK Country Manager. “However, technology by itself is of little value if it doesn’t provide quantifiable benefits. That’s why Datalogic is fully committed to using our advances in technology as a tool to help retailers build a valuable and relevant shopping experience for their customers.”
Datalogic Group offers Automatic Data Capture and Industrial Automation solutions.
