As self-checkout continues to shape the retail landscape, a recent consumer survey conducted by Fusion, a business-to-business marketing agency for fresh food, reveals insights into the behavior and preferences of today’s shoppers.
With more than three-quarters of surveyed consumers regularly using self-checkout and 90 percent expressing satisfaction with the experience, the findings point to successes, opportunities and challenges that produce companies and retailers must address to remain competitive in a self-service-driven market.
Privacy, speed drive self-checkout adoption
Fusion’s research indicated that privacy and speed are the two key drivers of self-checkout. A considerable number of survey respondents cited self-consciousness as the top reason for choosing it. This highlights a consumer preference for discretion during transactions and emphasizes the importance of providing customers with private, seamless purchasing options.
in addition, many respondents noted they are looking for a fast, grab-and-go experience. One in five identified self-checkout as a time-saver, finding it quicker than going through the cashier line. This highlights a demand for self-service solutions that offer convenience and efficiency.
Produce scanning issues leading to missed sales
While self-checkout enjoys widespread use, the Fusion survey revealed specific pain points that produce companies and retailers need to address. Nearly 60 percent of respondents reported difficulties when scanning packaged produce, and more than two-thirds faced issues with bulk produce items.
These challenges, primarily stemming from difficulties with barcodes, manually entering codes or searching for items in the register system, lead to frustration and lost sales.
Notably, 57 percent of shoppers admitted leaving produce items behind at the register due to system confusion or a lack of user-friendly instructions. This indicates a critical need for produce labeling to be addressed and for retailers to improve the user interface of self-checkout systems, particularly when it comes to scanning.
[RELATED: Driving Fresh Produce Sales With SNAP]
Enhancing the self-checkout experience
Despite its popularity, the survey points to a few improvements that companies and retailers can implement to optimize the self-checkout process.
Respondents suggested that more explicit on-screen instructions and audio prompts would help alleviate confusion, with 14 percent recommending these features. Moreover, enabling customers to continue scanning even when an issue arises could reduce interruptions, allowing attendants time to assist without halting the transaction.
Key takeaways
The findings of this survey offer insights for produce companies and retailers looking to grow sales of fresh produce and enhance the consumer’s shopping experience. By addressing common frustrations – such as produce scanning issues – and implementing solutions prioritizing speed, privacy and ease of use, retailers can better meet the evolving demands of today’s shoppers.
As shoppers continue to use self-checkout, those who invest in improving these systems can achieve greater customer satisfaction, higher efficiency and increased sales.
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