Italian Grocer Deploys ‘Scan and Bag’-Style Technology

[Sherman A1]

130. There may not have been a staff reduction at your store

but be assured this is all about saving labor & cutting store employees hours. I have seen hours cut for the last 30+ years as stores add one labor saving technique after another.

There was a time when each item had to be priced, then they replaced that with bar codes (fewer hours), then increased vendor stocking, then boxed beef, then automatic watering systems in produce, then cutting back or eliminating in store bakeries, then bringing in more pre-packed items for the perishable departments, then more pre built displays that simply are wheeled to the sales floor and dropped into position as runs of shelving are removed.

As this scanning technology advances it will be an app on the consumers smart phone directly debited from their bank & the consumer will eventually be doing more and more of the work (checking & bagging) and providing the equipment (smart phone), providing the store with a huge amount of information for marketing & tracking purposes, with I assure you no reduction in pricing.