Tech Guest Viewpoint: Eliminate the Checkout Line With IoT

Whether buying online or in the store, consumers today want more control over their shopping experience. If they could have greater control, the number one aspect that consumers would change is the frustration of waiting in a long checkout line in store. In fact, industry research has shown that 52% of consumers say they would actually take their business elsewhere if their checkout wait times exceed five to 10 minutes.



Fortunately, retailers can end the frustration consumers experience waiting in checkout lines by using Internet of Everything (IoE) technologies and techniques to optimize or even eliminate the checkout line completely. Using IoE technologies, retailers can “light up” dark assets and apply analytics at the edge, enabling them to predict as far as 30 minutes in advance when there will be a rush at the checkout.



This is a significant step forward, since it allows retailers enough time to respond to unforeseen fluctuations in demand, even in the busy and chaotic retail environment. With enough warning, store managers can open additional registers and allocate more staff at the checkout, to prevent customers from having to line up and wait.



To “light up” dark assets, retailers should evaluate what they already have in place – such as shelf sensors, video cameras, beacons and other technologies – and apply advanced analytics and connect these assets to people and processes, in order to gain greater intelligence from them.



For example, retailers can use video analytics with the cameras in parking lots to understand when people are arriving at the store. They can also use video analytics to understand the flow of foot traffic within the store and know where shoppers are spending time. These techniques can enable retailers to know in advance when shoppers will be arriving at the checkout.



Building upon what is already in place, grocers can use beacons in the frozen food aisles and shelf sensors in the milk section to understand how quickly those items are leaving the shelves.



Our experience has shown that milk is a key indicator of imminent checkout. Consumers tend to buy frozen foods and milk at the end of their shopping trip. Therefore, by using IoE technologies, grocers know that when milk is picked up, the consumer is likely to checkout within a few minutes. By having access to this intelligence in near real-time, store managers are able to optimize in-store staff by assigning more employees to the checkout as needed – or reassign staff to work on the store floor if the checkout will be slow.



More importantly, using IoE technologies retailers can not only optimize the checkout but even eliminate it entirely. The prevalence of smartphones today provides almost endless opportunities for alternative checkout methods. Retailers can use a combination of smart shopping carts and mobile scan-and-go applications that enable shoppers to scan items with their smartphones as they place them in their shopping cart. The carts can sense weight and confirm that additional items have not been placed in the cart without being scanned first, and the customer’s credit card can be automatically billed when they leave the store.



The keys to customer adoption of these new checkout methods and mobile applications are usability and value. Nearly every consumer has experienced frustration with self-checkout registers. New checkout methods and mobile applications need to be extremely easy to use in order for consumers to adopt them broadly.



Lastly, retailers can use mobile applications with continuous location sensing to eliminate the checkout line. By using a phone’s GPS, a retailer can know when a customer is arriving at the store and have their order ready for curb-side pickup or have it ready to pick up at a designated counter in the store so the customer never has to wait in a checkout line. The mobile application can even provide way finding right to the pickup location, and perhaps provide helpful advice or offers en route.



Putting an end to checkout lines starts with understanding customers’ shopping behaviors. By using analytics at the edge, retailers can turn data into insight and anticipate when customers will arrive at a checkout line or eliminate the need for checkout registers entirely. Consumers love the prospect of never waiting in line again and research shows that by adopting IoT technologies, retailers can experience a 15% profit improvement.



Shaun Kirby is CTO of Cisco Consulting Services