Tesco, the largest retailer in the UK, has opened the first completely self-service outlet in Britain as retailers around the world continue to look at self-service checkouts as a means to reduce costs. The express convenience store will have five self-service registers, with just one employee monitoring the tills and providing assistance to customers. A Tesco spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the outlet was part of the company’s response to the consumer push for more convenient retailing. “Customers... ...Read more »

A multi-country study into the future of retailing reveals technology’s potential impact on how consumers shop and how retailers engage their customers. The new research suggests that, among Canadian Internet users who have primary responsibility in their household for shopping, more than half believe that networked refrigerators and online devices will be available to prepare shopping lists and order goods that require replenishing. TNS’ “New Future In Store” report reveals... ...Read more »

Woolworths, Australia’s largest supermarket operator, has today announced full year sales of $47b, representing a 10.7% increase on last year. Woolworths advised that their food and liquor operations had a 7.9%* sales increase for the year, with inflation for the year of 2.9%. Fourth quarter inflation (2.9%) was seen to drop on the back of a deflation in fruit and vegetable prices, and was markedly lower than the figure of 4.5% registered during the third quarter. Woolworths CEO Michael... ...Read more »

Grocery stores worldwide are beginning to move toward self-checkout technology with success. Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, has now adopted an all self-service checkout model in their US Fresh & Easy stores, which has been met with support from consumers after initial skepticism. Tesco Fresh & Easy has also updated their systems to better suit the technology, as they now have all their fruit (except bananas) in packages with barcodes to ensure the consumer has fewer potential problems... ...Read more »

Woolworths is set to introduce self-checkout technology into 70 of their supermarkets by the end of June, with 16 outlets already equipped with self-checkout lanes. Each of the 70 stores is likely to have about four self-checkout machines which will enable the customer to scan, weigh and pay for their groceries via cash, credit or debit cards. They will also allow the customer to get cash out, top-up mobile phone vouchers and receive petrol reward dockets. To cater for those people who are... ...Read more »