Yesterday, Rewe Group and Mars were jointly honoured with an ECR Award from GS1 Germany for their efforts to bring impulse items to self-checkouts. The partners received the award for their ‘European NextGen Checkout Project’ in the ECR Collaboration Excellence category.
Through this project, the companies aim to draw customers’ attention more strongly to impulse offers in the self-service checkout zone. The growing number of self-service checkouts and associated changes to the layout of checkout areas often lead to a decline in sales of impulse items. Not least because self-checkout reduces waiting times and captures customers’ attention more effectively.
That is why Rewe Group and Mars have been working together for more than two years to develop solutions designed to bring impulse items back into focus under these changed conditions. To this end, they are placing chocolate bars, chewing gum and snacks on multi-tiered shelving units at eye level – either in the waiting area of the self-checkout zone or between the terminals. This aims to draw customers’ attention to impulse-buy items even before they start the scanning process.
Project combines short-term improvements with data-driven redesign
By now, Rewe Group and Mars have installed more than 7,500 impulse-buy modules and optimised over 2,500 checkout areas across eight countries and five retail formats. Transaction data and insights into waiting times and customer pathways from pilot stores serve as a basis for further planning. Data gathered is intended to help further adapt product ranges and placements, as well as better coordinate shelving units and checkout types.
When awarding the prize, the jury particularly highlighted scope and international dimension of the project. It also recognised further potential in applying the jointly developed approach to other product categories.
Shopper activation and reusable system for cosmetics also rewarded
This year’s ECR Innovation Excellence Award went to Kaufland and Coca-Cola for their ‘360° Integrated Activation’ project. Hereby, the partners used data from the Kaufland Xtra Card to identify shopper profiles in 169 focus stores that were relevant as target groups for both soft drinks and frozen pizzas. The aim was to engage these shoppers through targeted communication via social media, the app and at the point of sale. Insights from receipt data will be utilised for future activation campaigns. The approach can be transfere to other product combinations.
Drugstore operators Müller and Budni are working with Hamburg-based manufacturer of sustainable cosmetics, SEA ME, to set up a reusable system for drugstore and cosmetic products called Zerooo. Customers purchase the products in reusable containers. After use, they return them at the till, via deposit machines or through delivery services. Zerooo handles the return process, sorts and cleans the containers. 500,000 of these units are already in circulation within a network of 1,000 sales and return points. For this project, GS1 Germany awarded the ECR Sustainability Excellence Award.
