Schnuck Markets prevents gift card fraud in 10-store pilot
Schnuck Markets Inc. successfully streamlined in-store gift card security during a technology test in the St. Louis market.
The regional grocery chain deployed the new Digimarc Corp. end-to-end gift card security solution in 10 Schnucks stores in the St. Louis area for a 10-week period, with 100% of Digimarc-protected gift cards activated successfully and no reported fraud on any cards secured by Digimarc.
“We are confident the watermarked gift cards developed by the Digimarc team will significantly mitigate the persistent gift card fraud prevalent within the retail sector,” said Dianna Kaiser, Schnucks store auditor and compliance officer. “From the initial planning and discovery phases through the completion of the pilot program, the Digimarc team consistently prioritized and addressed our concerns while maintaining a seamless experience for both our customers and our checkers.”
Specific store-level results of the pilot included:
- Almost nine-in-10 (87%) cashiers in pilot stores said cards protected by the Digimarc solution activated as fast or faster than traditional gift cards, resulting in faster checkout.
- Cashiers said they no longer needed to open complex packaging or examine gift cards for fraud, which further streamlined checkout.
- No training was needed for customers at self-service checkout.
- There was no impact to any other workflows or processes in stores or the supply chain.
Digimarc partnered with Schnucks, Blackhawk Network, Westrock, STL Labels, Zebra Technologies, and four major gift card brands to implement its new gift card security solution, which involves replacing gift card activation barcodes with Digimarc’s tamper-evident solution, at select Schnucks stores.
If the scanner detected any evidence of tampering, the gift card wouldn't activate, stopping fraud before it reached customers. Scanned cards with untampered watermarks activating instantly.
"Working with Zebra Technologies, we configured Schnucks' in-store scanners to automatically detect if cards showed any evidence of tampering to the Digimarc on-card watermark activation layer, eliminating the need for cashiers to open and inspect cards," said Ken Sickles, Digimarc chief product officer.
In another effort to streamline store operations and the shopping experience, Schnucks has been rolling out Instacart Caper Carts to stores across Missouri and expanding them into stores in Illinois for the first time.
Caper Cart, which Instacart acquired in October 2021, is equipped with scales, sensors, touchscreens and computer vision technology. The screen helps shoppers navigate the store, and proprietary scanless technology allows customers to drop them in the cart to be checked off a premade online list.
With the Schnucks expansion, Instacart is also introducing a new feature: the lower tray. Designed to improve the cart’s versatility, this option is intended to make it easier for customers to add heavy, bulkier items such as cases of water, soda, or pet food to the cart by scanning them and placing them on the bottom tray, without having to lift them all the way to the basket.
[READ MORE: Schnucks expands AI-equipped Instacart smart cart rollout]
Founded in St. Louis in 1939, Schnucks operates 113 stores, serving customers in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
