Zara tests out Self-Checkout, shoppers are the new retail workers — Retail Boss
Self-checkout is speeding from grocery retailers to fashion and lifestyle stores including Zara, H&M, Kohl’s and Uniqlo are all testing out self-checkout at select stores. Driven by excellence in customer service, Zara has developed an easy D-I-Y self-checkout process in order to improve the customer’s shopping experience. With this aim, Zara has started to test and implement self checkout machines and interactive fitting rooms at Zara stores in Europe and North America.
Zara’s self checkout option complement the purchasing options in order to speed up the paying process at stores, since customers can independently complete the payment for their selected items without approaching the till point.
Located next to the fitting rooms, the device scans the pieces that the customer is about to purchase. Those pieces will be displayed on the screen while waiting for the customer to confirm, scan additional garments or correct possible mistakes and subsequently proceed with payment. Alarms are removed from the items after their payment. Garments are accurately identified with the help of the RFID technology and put into bags, as seen in the video below.
This system has been tested and implemented during 2015 at Zara stores in Marineda Shopping Centre (A Coruña, Spain) and Mercado de San Martín (San Sebastian, Spain). Since, self-checkout has continued to expand implementation several self checkouts throughout stores worldwide.
A few more videos found below show North American shoppers testing out self-checkout this year, and they seem to be pleased, calling the self-checkout process ‘simple, and easy.’
In addition to Self-checkout, Zara’s RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) allows garments to be individually identified, from logistic platforms through to their sale. This technology represents a huge step up in technology that allows the entire workflow to be redesigned in stores where it is implemented, leading in turn to an improved level of customer service.
Thanks to this system, tracking products is much quicker and more precise: when a customer looks for a specific product, the staff can check its availability in real time in that store, a nearby establishment or on zara.com, facilitating the shopping process. Even payment processes benefit from this process, since RFID technology is integrated into the tills.
Retail tech experts are also weighing in on the self-checkout and RFID technology, while doing their own on hand reviews, “Checking out the #Zara RFID #selfcheckout was the highlight of my week. Interesting that they expect shoppers to remove the security tags themselves as that caused a line up after paying Still, I love seeing the potential of lower friction checkout in #retailtech,” said Karen Wong, Co-Founder & CEO of TAKU Retail.
Author: Jeanel Alvarado — Ohemeng
I have 15 years of experience in the retail industry including expertise in marketing, operations, merchandising, buying, shopping and technology. I am a former senior managing director of The School of Retailing, University of Alberta. My education includes a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from The University of Alberta in Marketing, Certificate in Real Estate and a Diploma in Fashion Merchandising and Buying from LasSalle College, a Canadian private school founded in 1959 by fashion designer Jean-Paul Morin.
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Originally published at https://retailboss.co on December 6, 2022.
