ADVERTORIAL
CPI solutions enhance your customer experience, reduce labor costs, and increase throughput.
Done Right, Self-Checkout Yields
BIG BENEFITS It’s no secret that consumers crave self-checkout; in fact, 87% of consumers queried by Bloomberg said they prefer shopping in stores with robust self-checkout options. But introducing self-checkout does more for c-stores than delivering on customer demand. It also benefits the business—in more ways than one. CSN recently sat down with Bassam Estaitieh, business development strategic marketing director, retail at CPI, to discuss these benefits and how to maximize them. CSN: CPI recently added end-user companies, including c-store operators, to its customer base while continuing to work with OEMs. Why? BE: We’ve found that we can provide additional value to customers by leveraging our history and expertise in cash management to advise on improving cash management practices in stores in general. Focusing on OEMs as well as retailers helps them optimize their cash
management practices, because we also have other equipment in our portfolio— like back-office cash counters and safes, so we have many ideas on how to make the whole process seamless. Regardless, we ensure that the system we sell to each operator suits its needs and is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ configuration. We can streamline implementation and provide c-stores—and all retailers—with a complete range of support and services. CPI develops integrated technologies that keep customers moving. Our full portfolio includes everything from self-checkout, custom kiosks, and attended lane automation to smart safes, cash processing and fourth wall revenue solutions. With 30 million devices in operation, processing 40 million cash payments and powering 4 billion transactions each week, we have everything customers need for productivity and peace of mind. Whether you’re a local independent or a large multinational,
CSN: How does self-checkout technology benefit c-stores’ business? BE: Automation—including self-checkout—is the future of solving business problems and reaping business benefits. Let’s start with labor and relieving pressure tied to the labor shortage. With self-checkout stations, you still need cashiers, especially to accommodate customers who are unwilling or unable to use self-checkout machines. However, you don’t need as many of them—instead of assigning a cashier to each register, you may only need one employee to monitor several self-checkout stations. But the story goes beyond this. Self-checkout frees up employees to spend time helping customers, contributing to a better customer experience and bottom line. Instead of assigning many of their associates to a cashier station, c-stores can ‘repurpose’ to help build relationships with customers and assist them in using self-checkout stations. According to a study by Mindtree, shoppers who interact with a sales associate are 43% more likely to purchase a product, and their transactions have 81% more value, compared to those who don’t interact with an associate. Regular customers are the core of business, and it’s important to maintain relationships with them. Removing physical barriers between staff and customers—allowing employees to step into floor space to speak with shoppers— can help with this. And of course, freed-up associates can also handle other important tasks, like stocking products and cleaning.
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