Brussels, Amsterdam, 20 October 2010 – Re-Vision, a world-leading provider of self-scanning solutions, and Carrefour Belgium, a leading Belgian retailer, today announced the further roll-out of the self-scanning technology to some more Carrefour stores in Belgium. The first phase of this joint project involves implementing self-scanning throughout 40 stores till the end of 2010.
Carrefour Belgium was the first in Carrefour Group to introduce the innovative shopping method of self-scanning with Re-Vision in a pilot store in September 2009. The new technology quickly gained a high level of customer acceptance, largely due to the progressive marketing campaign developed by Carrefour Belgium. Based on this successful pilot, Carrefour started to roll-out the system in March 2010 to its hypermarkets and integrated supermarkets across Belgium.
After extensive market research and an in-depth selection process by Carrefour Belgium, the best-of-breed combination of the Motorola MC17T retail mobile computer, powered by the My-Scan software solution from Re-Vision, was chosen to support the roll-out, providing the required functionality and integration flexibility.
What is self-scanning?
Self-scanning is a modern shopping method whereby customers use a mobile device to self-scan items while shopping. The system implemented in the Belgian Carrefour shops is called My-Scan, and consists of a pool of portable barcode scanners (50 to 250, depending on the size of the store). To use a scanner, the customer must swipe their Carrefour Bonus Card at the store entrance, after which he or she can proceed with self-scanning barcodes on the products as they shop. Having finished the shopping trip, the customer can proceed directly to the payment station, without the need to wait in line at a traditional checkout.
This approach enables customers to have an enriched shopping experience: firstly, they save time by not having to place groceries on the conveyor belt and repack; instead, they can directly pack the goods from the shelves into their bags. Secondly, waiting time is reduced, as the client proceeds to a self-payment kiosk or a reserved counter. The hand-scanner also helps customers to manage their spending budget – a list of all the goods in their basket, as well as the total amount of the purchase, is visible on the screen at any time.
Customer acceptance of self-scanning
The challenge of gaining customer acceptance often holds back the decision to embrace self-scanning technology. At Carrefour Belgium, a special marketing programme was developed to ensure customers were aware of the benefits of self-scanning. People are naturally wary of new technology, however research has shown that once someone has used self-scanning, they find it a fast and efficient way to shop and tend to stay loyal to the system, and hence to the store. Interestingly enough, the system is used by customers of all age groups and education levels. Once the roll-out is complete, Carrefour Belgium hopes to have 25% of their customers using the system.
Michel Haagmans, Director at Re-Vision, says: “We believe that self-scanning will revolutionise shopping. Many leading European retailers are heavily investing in this technology as part of their growth strategy. We at Re-Vision are delighted that Carrefour has joined our rich portfolio of customers, which already includes Coop, Tesco and a number of other major European retailers. Our priority is to have customers up and running very quickly, so that they can see the return on investment within a short period of time”.
Walter Simons, Director Business Solutions IT-Stores at Carrefour Belgium, comments: "Introducing self-scanning has increased the supermarket's popularity with customers because this option offers them more control over the time spent in the store. We at Carrefour Belgium are very happy with the first results of the project – our main goal was to make the shopping trip quick and enjoyable, from the moment our customer enters the store until the check-out. We now feel that they are getting a better service and benefit from a more relaxed shopping experience".
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About Carrefour Belgium
Carrefour Belgium is one of the largest retailers on the Belgian market. Today, the company employs around 12,000 people in the country to service 3 different shop formats: Carrefour Hypermarkets, Carrefour GB/Market supermarkets and the Carrefour Express convenience stores. In all 686 shops, Carrefour is proud to offer the widest choice of products at the most competitive prices and a top selection of brands including Carrefour’s own brand. It also provides the most convenient opening hours, while offering an excellent level of service. The total turnover in 2009 was EUR 5.19 billion euro.
For more information, please visit:
www.carrefour.eu
About Re-Vision
Re-Vision B.V. is one of the leading providers of mobile self-scanning solutions. Benefiting from over 10 years of development and investment around retail best practice CRM principles, their core solution My-Scan became the market leader for self-scanning and loyalty/CRM systems. Successfully implemented at many leading European retailers, including Carrefour, Tesco and Co-Op Switzerland, their innovative solutions ensure a reduction in check-out time by up to 400%. Implementing self-scanning helps retailers build a stronger relationship with their customers, while promoting a service-driven and customer-oriented philosophy. This in turn leads to multiple benefits including increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Retailer also optimizes customer flow and operational costs as staff are able to serve more people within the same time period. Re-Vision is headquartered in the Netherlands, with its global presence further strengthened by a worldwide network of partners.
For more information, visit:
www.re-vision.nl
Contact:
Carrefour Belgium: Lars Vervoort
Tel: +32 (0)2 729 19 19
E-Mail:
lars_vervoort@carrefour.com
Web:
www.carrefour.eu
Re-Vision: Michel Haagmans
Tel: +31 (20) 7709001
E-Mail:
m.haagmans@re-vision.nl
Web:
www.re-vision.nl