Today’s customers want convenience, particularly from truckstop and travel plaza operators, and new technology is helping locations move shoppers through stores faster. The technology also allows locations to re-deploy labor and improve order accuracy, enhancing customer service.
During the NATSO Connect 2022 keynote address “Checkout Technology: How Your Customers Want to Checkout Has Changed,” Greg Buzek, IHL Group, moderated a panel discussion with Jack Hogan, vice president of partnerships, Mashgin; Darren Schulte, vice president of membership, NATSO; Michael Suswal, co-founder and chief business officer, Standard AI; and Chase Thomason, CEO, Skip.
The panel was held at NATSO Connect 2022 in Orlando, Florida.
Buzek told attendees that installs in the next two years are projected to grow 178 percent, consumer mobile checkout installs are projected to grow 300 percent, and contactless payment installs are slated to grow 190 percent.
Suswal said users of Standard AI’s system, which uses AI for autonomous checkout, have larger basket sizes and shorter wait times in the store. “We have 25 percent of shoppers in and out under a minute, and baskets are bigger,” he said.
Thompson said retailers using Skip’s scan-and-go solution typically see a 4.5 percent item increase and a 6.5 percent spending increase. “For our kiosk, we’re typically seeing around a 55-60% basket spend increase,” he said.
At locations featuring Mashgin’s AI technology, 30 percent of sales go through the checkout. “When you hit that point, the technology pays for itself, and the cashiers have better lives,” Hogan said.
During the session, Schulte delved into the use of electronic shelf labels, which can reduce the labor needed to update pricing and enable dynamic pricing. "If you're marking down a donut, you have to go out with a black marker and change the price. We just don’t have the labor to do those kinds of things,” he said.
Jack Hogan, vice president of partnerships, 
Chase Thomason, CEO, Subscribe to Updates
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