Retailers see potential in self-scanning apps

Self-scanning with a mobile app is enjoying increasing popularity. Despite the risk of fraud, retailers see big efficiency gains, while customers appreciate the speed and ease of use.

Supermarkets do, pharmacists do not

To avoid queues at checkouts and reduce costs, more and more retailers are turning to self-service checkouts and self-scanning options. Notable among these is the breakthrough of smartphone scanning, via a mobile app. A new study in Sweden by master student Emily Pasquariello at Uppsala University in cooperation with software company ID24 examines how 101 Nordic retailers – including Ikea – are deploying self-scanning and what their experiences are.

24 % of retailers surveyed said they have rolled out self-scanning systems in some or all of their shops. Remarkably, the adoption rate is as high as 100 % for supermarkets, and 40 % for restaurants and convenience stores. By contrast, in the fashion sector, only 11 % have self-scanning options, and for pharmacists it is even 0 %. The latter stress the importance of personalised advice, a service you cannot offer with self-scanning.

Self-scan increases sales

Retailers are very divided on the importance of self-scanning for their shops, though. They see self-checkout solutions as a good way to speed up the checkout process, and partly as a way to control staff costs.

Overall, retailers do not think that the adoption of self-checkouts can lead to higher sales, but remarkably, the 24 % of retailers who already use self-checkout have a far better opinion of the technology. A large majority among them do see a positive correlation between self-service checkouts and higher sales.

Three major challenges

What challenges do retailers see? Theft is an obvious one, according to 89 % of surveyed retailers. According to 29 %, it is even an “extreme” challenge. Some retailers report that they have removed self-service checkouts again for exactly this reason. Ikea also reports some fraud, but says the benefits for the customer outweigh the risk of theft.

A second, rather obvious challenge is the lack of personal service at self-service checkouts. Retailers stress its value for customers, and say this is one of the biggest drawbacks of self-service checkouts.

Interviewees also stress the importance of updated software that allows a seamless shopping experience without the intervention of employees: consider the complexity involved in using discount vouchers, gift cards or shopping lists.

Scanning with the app

A notable trend is the breakthrough of mobile apps for self-scanning, especially since the pandemic. Ikea has implemented its Scan & Go app in more than thirty countries, and has noticed it increases efficiency in shops: checkout is 65 % faster than with traditional self-checkout. Customers using the app are 1.3 times happier with their payment experience and give the Ikea app 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Experiences from surveyed Swedish supermarket chains point in the same direction: the self-scan app gets a customer rating of around 4 out of 5 stars. According to Ikea, the mobile app mainly attracts users between the ages of 20 and 40, about 75 % of whom are women. Supermarkets speak of a similar age range of 25 to 35 years, with an almost equal split between male and female users.

Adding more features

The security measures for self-scanning via mobile applications are much the same as traditional self-checkout systems, with checks based on sampling. At some supermarkets, customers who have committed theft via the app are no longer allowed to use Scan & Pay. A key concern is good network connectivity in shops: with a poor connection, customers could lose scanned items from their shopping basket and have to re-scan products.

Both Ikea and the supermarkets surveyed continue to invest further in self-scanning apps as customer usage increases.The furniture giant is considering adding a payment function to the Scan & Go app, as well as other features that would allow the app to become a fully-fledged shopping assistant. Supermarket chains are integrating the Scan & Pay function into their general app, allowing customers to use their shopping lists, for example. Thus, the app can become a solution to the lack of guidance or support in traditional self-scanning checkout systems.