Fast planning - smart solution
The regional Edeka Group North Bavaria-Saxony-Thuringia has launched an individual self-checkout solution for its independent retailers. The express terminals are customized according to their own specifications and are relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain. The systems are designed for use throughout the Edeka Group.
Cashless payments are also becoming increasingly common in the approximately 700 supermarkets operated by Edeka Handelsgesellschaft Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen, almost all of which are run by independent retailers. The average cash share for the whole of 2018 was 57.3 percent – in the first quarter of 2021, however, only 41 percent of goods were paid for in cash. At the same time, self-checkout options are also becoming increasingly popular. To date, around 190 SCO terminals have been set up in various configurations. These terminals typically handle between 15 and 20 percent of sales, and at peak times more than 40 percent. "These are clear trends that demonstrate customers' willingness to use modern checkout options," says Pierre Vieweg, Head of IT/Retail in the regional group.
Against this backdrop, Edeka Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen decided in November 2019 to develop a new stationary solution in the form of compact express terminals. "We want to offer our independent retailers a smart self-checkout that can bridge the gap between large SCO and conventional cash registers," explains Pierre Vieweg. The requirements: based on standard checkout hardware, compact and space-saving, flexibly expandable, low susceptibility to faults, easy to install and integrate as plug & play, and therefore cost-effective overall. The system must also be suitable for mass rollout and for all market types (supermarket, E Center, Marktkauf, discount channel) within the Edeka Group.
TO THE PROTOTYPE IN 6 MONTHS
The Edeka headquarters in Hamburg pursues a vendor pool strategy and works with technology providers ITAB and Diebold Nixdorf for SCO. However, a different approach was chosen for the North Bavaria-Saxony-Thuringia regional company project. "If there is nothing comparable on the market that meets our requirements, we have to pursue our own solution," explains Pierre Vieweg. The partner for this is Pyramid, a Freiburg-based company that also belongs to the headquarters' supplier group.
The technology provider is building the new SCO according to Edeka's specifications. The project timeline: idea in November 2019, project start in December 2019, first visualizations of the terminals in January 2020, approval of design, functionalities, and other requirements in February 2020, prototype delivery and acceptance tests from June 2020, and finally piloting in August 2020 at the E Center of Edeka retailer Stefan Scharrer in Fürth. "The use of existing resources and expertise, face-to-face discussions and short decision-making processes, and a high level of trust between business partners are the prerequisites for meeting such an ambitious timeline," says Pierre Vieweg.
