Recently, I visited the flashy new Fairprice supermarket at Singpost Centre. The outlet looks different from the usual Fairprice with black glossy shelves and white signages. What caught my eye was this wall of devices with the sign that says Scan2Go. Okay, so I can scan while I’m shopping just like the Apple Store?
Well not really. The staff told me that I’ve to register first at the Customer Service counter on the other side of the outlet near the exit. Okay, fair enough. Upon reaching the counter, there were 4 people waiting in front of me, waiting for the staff to do a manual process of checking everyone’s identity card, getting a signature and then entering some data into the computer.
After waiting for a good 10 minutes, of which I could have spent on the actual grocery shopping, I finally received a membership card with my name (yes, yet another card).
It was probably the longest onboarding process for something that’s supposed to make shopping more efficient.
I happily proceeded to collect the actual scanning device on the entrance side of the supermarket. The actual scanning process was painless: simply point at the barcode and press the button. The UI on the screen (probably an Android-based device) shows the price and total price.
Finally, when it was time to checkout, I had to proceed to the Scan2Go counter. There was only 1 such counter compared to 7 other self-checkout counters. I thought, “this thing is supposed to be faster since I don’t need to scan my items again right?” No, it’s not. First, the staff (or vendor. He wasn’t in a uniform and it was extremely confusing why this random European guy was scanning my groceries), used his scanner to scan ALL my items again. I was shocked as this procedure was supposed to be conducted “randomly”. After that, I could finally pay for my purchase by scanning my credit card as per regular checkout procedure. What a long process!
Inclusive of the time I took to sign up for the card and to queue at this specific counter when there were ample self-checkout counters available, this added at least 20 minutes to my shopping time rather than saving me time.
From a user experience point of view, the onboarding and checkout process can be improved by considering the following:
1. Have a self-service registration kiosk
Onboarding is important in the adoption of new technologies. By designing a simple kiosk for new users, NTUC Fairprice can let users self-register without going through a customer service staff. Another way is to extend the scanning device to have a registration page. There can even be creative substitutes for the ‘membership card’, such as using the customer’s EZ Link card or NRIC barcode for example.
2. Develop a mobile app
The additional measure of having a complicated sign-up process that requires you to give them your home address might be because the company does not want people stealing the scanning devices. If so, a more radical solution would be developing a mobile app that uses everyone’s phone as a scanning device, similar to what the Apple Store does. Everyone can onboard themselves via the app, and even checkout and pay using the app itself without going to the checkout counter. This actually reduces the cost of buying those scanning hardware devices!
3. Ease the final checkout experience
If developing a mobile app is too much work, Fairprice should at least ease the checkout process by allowing users to pay with their credit cards on the device itself, since it is some sort of an Android app.
In summary, much has to be improved in order for this new experience to succeed.
