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NCR FastLane™ offers completely modular design, small footprint, take-away conveyor belt
Feb 1, 2002/ FW/ --- Do you have long check out lines in grocery stores?
The NCR Corporation debuts the NCR Fastlane™, an enhanced modular self-checkout solution
that will enable retailers across markets and regions to more easily deploy increasingly popular
self-service technology.
"We saw initial adoption among Albertson's, Shaw's and other food and mass
merchandise retailers that offered their customers the option to scan and pay
for items without cashier assistance," said NCR General Manager for Self-
Checkout Mike Webster, of the industry that helped usher in self-checkout
technology. "Other retail segments, including home improvement, drug and
wholesale club retailers, are now ready to tap into what has become a
lucrative and advantageous way to satisfy consumer demand."
Home Depot is piloting NCR FastLane and BJ's Wholesale Club has intentions
to pilot NCR FastLane in one of its stores in April.
NCR looked to consumers, retailers and cashiers, conducting focus groups
of all three audiences for design input. As a result, NCR FastLane offers a
smaller footprint and can be easily upgraded to feature small- and large-order
bagging areas and a new take-away conveyor belt without having to reinstall
the core system. It incorporates other leading NCR technologies, including
touchscreens and scanners, and can accept cash, check, credit, debit and
coupons. It can also be programmed in multiple languages.
NCR Fastlane™
(Photo by PRNewsFoto)
In the few short years since self-checkout was introduced, many retailers
who have adopted it report anywhere from 20 to more than 40 percent of
transactions are now processed through self-checkout. Research conducted for
NCR Corporation in late 2001 confirms rising consumer usage, with 51 percent
of respondents indicating they have used a self-checkout machine.
"Increasing consumer comfort with the technology, as revealed in our
research, parallels the growing number of retailers installing NCR self-
checkout solutions, which has nearly doubled from 17 retailers in 2000 to more
than 30 at the end of 2001," Webster said.
According to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), close to 20 percent of
food retailers had self-checkout installed in 2001. NCR FastLane will debut
at FMI's annual technology convention, MARKETECHNICS, in San Diego,
February 3.
The leading provider of self-checkout based on units shipped in 2001, NCR
is expanding its self-checkout strategy to meet the needs of retailers in
other regions as well as other industries, and installed the first self-
checkout solution in the Netherlands earlier this year.
An NCR study of UK, French and German retailers indicates that even though
they have yet to use it, European consumers are likely to mirror the
acceptance seen among U.S. shoppers. Results indicate 70 percent of those
surveyed would use a self-checkout machine if it became available where they
shop, and 41 percent would be more likely to visit a store that offered it.
"NCR FastLane puts self-service convenience within reach for all
retailers, regardless of size, industry or location, enabling them to gain a
competitive advantage by offering an added service and more effectively
deploying store staff," said Webster.
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NCR Fastlane™
(Photo by PRNewsFoto)
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