Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Even little suburban towns cannot escape the march of technology as this past weekend saw the introduction of Scan It: a self scan/self check system of getting your groceries.  High tech groceries?  Yes, and the benefits are for both store and for us shoppers.

Hello Moto?

In their free time, when not designing $2000 cell phones, the team at Motorola is coming up with handheld scanners, like the one imaged above.  Upon checking in at the scanner kiosk/recharging station, a simple scan of my store loyalty card releases a scanner to shoppers.  The scanners feature a barcode scanner and a color screen complete with sounds.

How to shoot your food

As shoppers travel around the store, they scan items and put them in a shopping bag in the cart.  The scanner allows easy entry and removal of items.  My favorite part is the location-based coupons that pop up as you travel around the store.  At checkout, scanners shoot the “all done” barcode on all the check outs, pay and go.  The potential of a random audit aims to keep shoppers honest.

The house always wins

So what is in it for the store?  Theoretically, their labor costs should go down as a checkout register person and bagger should no longer be required.  The store can send coupons to shoppers using the location based RFID which I suspect is inside, hopefully getting customers to buy more.

Why would you bother?

Yes, there is that nagging feeling that the store is just off-loading labor costs and expecting me to do the work.  I’d argue the other benefits customers get outweigh this feeling.  The scanner keeps a running tally of your bill, which is quite comforting.  Today, perhaps, more than ever, keeping a lid on costs is critical for many families.

The second benefit is speed.  My shopping trip was cut down by at least 15 minutes.  Unloading and reloading all those choices takes time and unless a shopper gets picked for an audit (which I didn’t witness, but must happen from time to time).

And lastly, the weakest benefit: it was just fun.  I am sure the novelty will wear off, but holding the scanner gives you power, plus you can shoot people with it.  Call it a measure of personal satisfaction.

The catch

As I mentioned, you agree to the random audit before using the system.  Should you get audited, kiss goodbye any time savings.  They throw in the feeling the you’ve done something wrong for free.

The store gets to know you even more; in a creepy way.  I suspect the store is tracking my every move as I navigate the food stuffs.  They’ll use this info to put high profit goods in their higher traffic areas; a practice they do already but now feels personal.

There are some barcodes that just won’t scan.  I traded out a package of chicken that just wouldn’t scan, a bit of a bummer.  And fruits and veggies, you are now making labels so you can scan the labels; so get to know the PLU codes quick.  This is where a lot of folks were getting stuck.

A better experience, overall

Overall, I suspect those of us that just want to get out of the store as fast as possible will adopt these scanners.  Those of us that use the self check out will appreciate the same “can do” gratification of going at your own speed.  Plus, you get to shoot stuff, even if just with a red barcode reader.

Company site (grocery store) [Stop and Shop]