Checkers piloting smart trolleys

South African supermarket Checkers has announced that it will pilot the country’s first smart trolleys at two of its branches. These trolleys allow customers to skip the queue and pay directly from their carts.

Known as the Xpress trolley, Checkers’ latest innovation allows shoppers to scan items as they go and track the total cost of the items in their cart, just like they would when shopping online.

“A user-friendly screen guides shoppers through their journey, displaying real-time product details, personalised promotions, and a running total that helps them keep tabs on their spending as they go,” Checkers said.

“The screen also assists with in-store navigation by indicating where products are located within the store, making it easier for shoppers to find what they want and need without trawling the supermarket.”

The supermarket said it has tested the carts at its Home Office and will roll out 10 trolleys at Checkers Hyper Brackenfell and another 10 at Checkers Constantia.

To begin shopping, customers need to scan their Xtra savings card just below the screen mounted on the trolley and place the provided bags in the cart.

As customers shop, they can scan the items before placing them in the trolley, allowing them to track the live basket total and view personalised Xtra Savings promotions.

Stores with Xpress Trolleys will have a dedicated lane for shoppers using the smart carts. They can then pay using the bank card loaded on their Xtra Savings profile.

The trolley will then print a till slip, and they can exit the shop without stopping at a till.

Shoprite Group Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Neil Schrauder said that the trolleys are not about the novelty of the screens but about giving shoppers real-time control and creating a more compelling shopping experience.

“The Xpress Trolley enhances convenience, improves speed, and keeps customers in control from the moment they enter the store to the moment they leave,” he added.

“We are also excited about the potential it holds for Sixty60’s in-store pickers, specifically the additional speed and accuracy with which the in-store picking process can be completed.”

UNIQ’s self-checkout

The Shoprite Group has also implemented high-tech shopping at its clothing retailer UNIQ, which supports self-checkout across all its branches.

Like the technology popping up at various supermarkets worldwide, UNIQ’s self-checkout allows customers to have all their items automatically identified at checkout using radio-frequency identification (RFID).

Instead of heading to a conventional checkout, customers place their items in a rectangular bucket at the self-checkout, which is fitted with high-powered RFID scanning technology.

Each of the price tags on items sold at UNIQ also has an ultra-high-frequency RFID tag printed on it, which is detected by scanning technology. The RFID tag is printed on the inside of the RFID sticker.

This allows for the automatic detection of a customer’s items, which are then loaded onto their invoice.

According to Keonn, the company that helped develop the technology for UNIQ, this is the first rollout of RFID-enabled self-checkout on the continent.

MyBroadband recently reported that a UNIQ store in Pretoria only had two employees on duty at any given time.

One of them told the publication that they did not feel that the technology threatened their jobs, as several things in the store required their attention.