Grocery Shoppers Are Expecting Three Things. Are You Delivering Them?
Price, convenience, and speed are key trademarks when it comes to current customer expectations. However, positive customer experiences have also become a driving factor in securing customer loyalty and profitability. Studies show that shoppers can spend up to 140%1 more after engaging in a positive shopping experience. On the flipside, negative experiences are more likely to be shared between current and prospective shoppers, impacting brand identity and decreasing sales. While expectations can vary from brand to brand, today’s customers generally anticipate…
- Omnichannel options – Online shopping is most certainly here to stay. It is expected that as much as 70%2 of shoppers in the US will be purchasing groceries online since it serves as both a convenient and safe way to shop.
- Contactless pickup – Similar to online shopping, BOPIS and curbside pickup have also grown in popularity due to their convenience and safety.
- Personalized experiences – Studies show that 43%3 of customers expect some sort of personalized service from stores in response to their loyalty.
What would seamless hassle-free grocery shopping look like?
To surpass these three common expectations, Barcodes, Inc. recommends targeting the following areas within the supply chain.
- Faster shelf replenishment – Simply put, if products aren’t visible on shelves, customers can’t buy them. That’s why quick cycle counting and fast replenishment are crucial to avoid out-of-stocks. Mobile technologies such as Zebra’s touch computers and hands-free scanners can enable real-time inventory updates as associates scan products immediately during stock counts.
- Intelligent point-of-sale – The longer customers wait in line, the less likely they are to return. Faster data capture through devices like Zebra’s enterprise scanners and MP7000 scanner can help accelerate checkout while empowering self-checkout lanes and loyalty scanning.
- Quicker order picking – As associates adapt to accommodate BOPIS transactions, they must move faster and more efficiently to assemble orders within stipulated time frames. Real-time inventory locationing can help reduce pick paths, accelerating order assembly.
Download our solutions brief for more areas of optimization.
While these are optimum areas to start enhancing the grocery storefronts, there are many other ways to deliver seamless shopping experiences. Leverage Barcodes, Inc.’s expertise in developing a smoother shopping experience, equipped with user-friendly technologies that put the customer experience first. Contact us today for a free consultation.
1 The true value of customer experiences. Deloitte. 2018.
2 Djordjevic, Milos. 20 Incredible Online Grocery Shopping Statistics for 2021. Save My Cent. Feb 6, 2021
3 Wollan, Robert et. al. Put Your Trust in Hyper-Relevance. Accenture Strategy. 2017.
Penske Eliminates PCI Compliance Risk with Advanced Payment Devices
Industry: Transportation & Logistics
Application: Payment Processing & Asset Management
Barcodes Inc’s value added services teams deploy, maintain, and service thousands of payment devices for Penske’s nation-wide rental network.
Executive Summary
Penske Truck Rental was looking to eliminate PCI compliance risk within their business and reduce the number of lost or ineffective devices by implementing a revamped hardware and services platform across the 3,300 corporate and agent rental locations. Due to the complexity of the Penske rental network and number of devices deployed, Penske wanted a systematic way to track and manage the devices, as well as deliver repair and spare pool management services. In addition, Penske required a solution provider to develop software which would reduce the need for paper and allow electronic signature capture as well as integrate the terminals with the existing Penske backend systems. Barcodes Inc, through coordination with a software provider, was able to deliver the solution and work with Penske as an ongoing value added partner.
5 Ways To Improve Security In Your Point-of-Sale System
Many business owners think that meeting the basic requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) protocols will keep their point-of-sale systems from being hacked. But here’s the truth: hacking into retailer POS systems is a recurring problem worldwide, even for retailers who meet PCI DSS standards.
In just the last couple of years, several high-profile cases have received media coverage:
- In late 2011, a scheme was discovered that involved hackers from Romania stealing credit card data from hundreds of POS systems, including those from 150 Subway franchises. More than 146,000 cards were compromised, and losses have been estimated at up to $10 million.
- In September 2012, hackers got into POS systems in 63 Barnes & Noble stores in nine states. The company removed POS card readers from all its stores while the incident was investigated.
- In December 2012, an Israeli security firm found a strain of malware infecting hundreds of POS systems in 40 countries. By injecting malware into a system’s iexplore.exe file on Windows servers, the malware hijacked data that could be used for cloning credit cards.
Countless other cases of POS “hacking” come from insiders: your employees. Keeping on top of POS security is essential for every business. Here are 5 ways to improve your POS security.
PCI Compliance Explained!
Point-of-Sale businesses are paranoid, with good reason, about protecting sensitive customer and company information. Financial institutions require that any company that stores, processes or transmits credit card information complies with the PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry, Data Security Standards).
Companies that fail to comply are subject to fines, lawsuits, and can even be banned from processing credit cards. Even worse, companies that are breached can find themselves in the news headlines, significantly impacting goodwill with customers, partners and shareholders. Ensuring your POS system and wireless infrastructure are in compliance is crucial.
The objective of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards is to protect cardholder data. The standards are developed and published by the PCI Security Standards Council (SSC), which consists of hundreds of industry participants who have a vested interested in reducing vulnerabilities in the card-processing ecosystem.
