Guest Feature: Modern checkout areas – the impact of expert advisory services
Seamless checkouts are one of the most important topics for many retailers. But how can they successfully be implemented? Good planning is essential and cannot be ranked high enough. Established partners can provide essential support, like Diebold Nixdorf with their Storevolution Advisory Services. With professional consulting and planning, mistakes that would require correction and cause high costs can be avoided from the outset. When retailers rely on advisory services based on data-driven analysis, extensive experience and the provision of open, modular solutions, introducing new checkout technologies can potentially deliver significant improvements for both employees and customers.
Diebold Nixdorf’s Storevolution Advisory Services are based on an eight-step approach to consulting and planning. The first step for Diebold Nixdorf’s experts is to understand the retailer’s strategy – what is to be achieved and what is the vision for the stores? Basic aspects also need to be clarified: who exactly are the customers, what products do they buy, and how do they prefer to pay? Other factors, such as structural conditions or region-specific features, also need to be examined.
Three key areas – front-end layout, operations and technology
The consulting and planning cover three key areas: analyzing the front-end layout, examining operational aspects and selecting the right technology mix. In the front-end design of the checkout area, for example, the positioning of the checkout solutions must be determined – where are they clearly visible, how do they fit optimally into the preferred routes of the clientele, and how do they form the optimal conclusion of the customer journey? How many terminals are needed so that peak times are also well covered? As part of the analysis of operational aspects, it is important to define how many cash registers need to be open or when and where the appropriate number of employees are deployed.
The technology will be selected based on the previously gained insights. These determine which solutions form the retailer’s optimal checkout mix, the exact design and scope, i.e., whether additional components such as handheld scanners or safety scales are required. It is also important to decide whether AI-based technology should be used for age verification of customers or to prevent fraudulent behavior. By choosing open, modular solutions, retailers can react easily and flexibly to changing conditions in the store, for example, when there is a high volume of customers.
Many successful examples
Numerous retailers from various segments already rely on Diebold Nixdorf’s consulting services. Together with Diebold Nixdorf’s experts, problems are identified and solved using the best possible checkout solution. Retailers may have individual pain points that are quite different. However, they are united by one thing on the results side: Many significant advantages could be realized with the help of professional advisory services when planning the checkout zone.
One example is Eataly, one of the world’s largest premium suppliers of Italian food. The company faced various challenges in its stores, such as long waiting times for customers at checkout. Eataly set various objectives: one aim was to optimize customer experience and customer service and to increase customer loyalty. They also wanted to increase the efficiency of the stores, and the speed of processes. After Diebold Nixdorf’s experts advised Eataly on identifying the problems, their task was to propose the optimal technology solutions.
Less waiting time in the checkout area
Eataly finally addressed its challenges in one of its stores with the open and modular DN Series EASY eXpress self-checkout solution so that customers are offered several checkout options: from self-service and assisted checkout to additional POS options in the individual store areas.
The result is impressive: the store’s efficiency has been significantly optimized. Customers now spend considerably less time queuing in the checkout area, the number of shopping carts left behind has been reduced and sales have also increased. Customer service has been improved by allowing customers to choose between different checkout options. Staff can now focus on areas other than the checkout zone, such as offering customers’ advice.
With the right advice to a model branch
Also faced with challenges was the Finiper Group with its hypermarket chain “Iper La Grande i.” They aimed to offer customers more attractive shopping experiences. Also, the efficiency of the stores and staff was to be improved and operating costs to be reduced. Another goal was to integrate and roll out new solutions and devices quickly and efficiently. As a first step, the branch in Rozzano, Italy, was to be modernized. Based on a data analysis, Diebold Nixdorf’s experts identified the hypermarket’s fundamental problems. They then drafted a front-end layout with a redesigned checkout area and customized self-service islands for more efficient cash handling. It was important, for example, that the checkout solutions were optimally aligned with the customer’s routes to optimize the customer journey and customer experience.
To achieve its goals, Iper La Grande i also relies on the open and modular DN Series EASY eXpress checkout hardware and DN Vynamic software. With these new solutions, customers can complete purchases much better, and transactions can easily be completed autonomously. Cash handling has also been optimized. With the help of sound advisory services and the appropriate technical solutions, Iper La Grande i was able to address and solve its difficulties in a targeted manner – and the branch in Rozzano is now a successful example of customer- and experience-oriented shopping as well as efficient, reliable and secure processes.
Unparalleled solutions for seamless checkout
Discover now how leading retailers worldwide have significantly optimised efficiency in their stores with Diebold Nixdorf solutions.
