Following Orders

It’s 6:00 p.m. on Friday, and the weekend shopping frenzy is in full swing. The line at the deli is backed up clear to the bakery, and people are leaving the line rather than waiting.

Such a scenario is not unusual for supermarket retailers, and the solution for a growing number of them is interactive kiosks.

“It’s about increasing our own efficiency by collecting more orders at once and having them printed out,” says Robert Keane, a spokesman for Stop & Shop Supermarket. “It really helps with accuracy and it’s been working very well for us.” The Quincy, Mass.-based company was scheduled to have deli kiosks in half of its 400 supermarkets by the end of last month.

The rationale for kiosk installation varies from retailer to retailer. According to Summit Research Associates, 27 percent cite revenue generation as a primary reason; less than 5 percent said it was to create a new channel, and 12 percent expect the installations to reduce costs. More than half of study respondents said providing information to customers was their main reason for using kiosks.

Stop & Shop’s latest program combines all of these factors. It is being undertaken with Boston-based Modiv Media, whose DeliVision kiosks have processed more than seven million orders since their first deployment in 2006.

“DeliVision can provide a new way for customers to shop,” says Christine Dorman, senior vice president of operational and strategic initiatives for Stop & Shop.“And it gives us an opportunity to enhance customer satisfaction and increase our efficiency.”

Shoppers enter their orders using the kiosk’s touch-screen; they can also scan their Stop & Shop loyalty card to see what they’ve purchased previously, and they have the option of selecting “give me what I got last time.”

Moreover, the kiosks offer the potential for electronic cross-merchandising by making customers aware of featured items in other departments. Although the printed tickets include an estimated pick-up time, the store P.A. systems are also being used to alert shoppers when their orders are ready.

In a further bow to convenience, Stop & Shop is experimenting with location by placing the kiosk near the entrance of its store in Pembroke, Mass. “This way, people don’t even have to go to the deli,” Keane says, “just go shopping until their order is ready.”

While specific figures weren’t available, retailers are reporting an increase in per-trip purchasing when the DeliVision kiosk is used, according to Modiv Media president and CEO Robert Wesley. “Because shoppers don’t have to wait, they are more likely to order additional items and can quickly fulfill customized orders, including specific brand, weight or cut,” he says.

Since convenience and speed are key elements, the system queues up deli counter requests and kiosk orders so deli employees don’t have to pick and choose which ones to fill first.

Simply having a kiosk doesn’t guarantee success, however, and ADUSA, a Lombard, Ill.-based consulting firm, has outlined several fundamental procedures for their implementation.

Employees should monitor the printer to make sure it’s not out of paper or out of order. Some retailers have installed an enunciator on the printer that sounds an alarm alerting employees to new orders or problems.

Deli managers should make sure that customer touch-screens are properly calibrated and, if possible, monitor a customer’s interaction with the kiosk to note any problems.

Managers should undertake periodic price checks to ensure accuracy, and out-of-stock items should be marked as such in the kiosk system to prevent customers from ordering them.

Some retailers have employees dedicated solely to kiosk order fulfillment, particularly during peak periods.

The order number should be prominently displayed on the package so customers can easily identify it when they return to the pick-up area.

Customer incentives
ADUSA also suggests that providing customers with special incentives (such as coupons) can increase kiosk use. In order to reduce the number of cases where customers forget to return to the pick-up location, ADUSA recommends using the store P.A. system to announce when orders are ready. If, at the end of the day, some orders have not been picked up, ADUSA suggests reusing the product in sandwiches, salads and party platters.

Modiv recently teamed with Motorola to offer a next-generation portable shopping assistant to Stop & Shop customers. The hand-held “easySHOP” device not only tells customers when their deli order is ready, but gives them a scan-and-bag option for items purchased in the rest of the store. The system, now available in 100 stores, also enables them to receive instant price checks and running totals.

Dorman expects easySHOP to give Stop & Shop customers “more control over the shopping trip while making efficient and smart buying decisions through relevant product promotions and information.”