Mar 192012
 

Advantage Checkout scanner

We all know the feeling of the weekly burden of grocery shopping and how time consuming it can be in our busy schedules. I know once I’m at the grocery store all I want is to be in and out as quick as possible. The reality of walking around the entire store collecting the groceries I need and checking out in 30 minutes or less is not likely. However, just last year the company Fujitsu created a new self checkout technology called the Advantage Checkout that will hopefully change my weekly shopping experience into a more pleasant one.

Last year Kroger Co. decided to take on the Advantage Checkout technology and is evaluating if the new machine benefits customers needs more than the standard checkouts or even the current self checkouts. The Advantage Checkout is not a replacement to the current self checkout but complimentary to them. The new technology for the self checkouts are suppose to reduce checkout times, improve customer experiences, and reduce operational costs for the retailer.

Don’t get me wrong, the current self checkout stands are definitely much faster than getting into a lane with multiple people in line with much more grocery items than myself, but when I have a cart full of produce then I’m forced into the standard checkout line. That is why Fujitsu has come up with the technology that will accommodate all customers. Instead of the traditional checkout stands we’re use to, the new system looks more like an MRI (magnetic resonance image) machine but don’t be scared of the size. The Advantage Checkout can checkout customers faster than any standard lane and could possibly take out two or three lanes if need be.

Inside of the Advantage Checkout

The Advantage Checkout is designed like a tunnel where a conveyor belt runs underneath carrying the grocery items all the way through in order for each item to be scanned. The best part about the scanner is when customers are placing their items on the conveyor belt, they do not have to worry about the barcodes facing a certain direction because the Advantage Checkout will automatically catch it. Once all the items have gone through the Advantage Checkout, a receipt will print out and you will continue finish checking out by paying at a machine that accepts cash, debit, credit, or other forms of payments. Check out the video demonstrating the Advantage Checkout: Fujitsu Self Checkout Scanner.

The current response to the new checkout scanner technology has exceeded the expectations from the customers and associates. Even the customers have been seen coming back more often because the Advantage Checkout has enhanced their shopping experience. The Advantage Checkout is definitely the future for all grocery store checkouts and with time the technology will become more secure and reliable and most importantly customers will get more comfortable with the process.

In my opinion, the Advantage Checkout seems like a great idea that will definitely take off in the future. If more and more grocery stores bring in the Advantage Checkout, then maybe grocery shopping won’t seem so burdensome but possibly more enjoyable. What are your thoughts on the Advantage Checkout? Is it a good or bad idea? Thank you for reading and of course feel free to leave comments.

 

Mar 122012
 

Whenever my mom asks me to go grocery shopping, I always dread it so much. She buys so much that it feels as if she picked at least one item from each aisle in the grocery store. Not only do I have to load up all the products and put them in the shopping cart for her, the check out usually takes forever. Waiting in line is a waste of time especially for an impatient person.

Recently, Microsoft has been working on an evolving project that could potentially cure the wait for checking out products in a grocery store. The technology company Chaotic Moon uses the Kinect system to navigate the cart around the grocery store. This is

Kinect Grocery Cart

from the same Kinect system as we know in games where it senses and detects your body and the motions. This system still detects your body so it can follow you around the store on it’s own and you wouldn’t have to push it yourself. In addition, this invention would detect and recognize grocery products. The speakers on the system read aloud what products you put into your cart as well. This could be a great new technology that would help the visually impaired grocery shop!

One of the best features that they’ve been working on is the ability to ring up all grocery items using RFID(Radio-frequency identification is the use of a wireless non-contact system that uses radio-frequency electromagnetic field transfer data from a tag attached to an object) tags as each item is placed into the shopping cart. While each item is placed into the cart, the Kinect will tally up how many items there are and display it on the mini screen. You can also, make a grocery list on the screen beforehand that includes the product and it’s brand so it can

detect exactly the item you need. No need for hand written grocery lists! Additionally, the Kinect will notifiy the shopper if they choose the wrong brand for the item that they want or even more specifics like gluten free products! There are so many benefits but mainly that once customers finish shopping, they don’t need to wait in line for check out because it’s already done by the kinect. Also, the company is working on the RFID to recognize the smallest products, especially the items like mini jars that are really hard to scan. The company began officially sanctioning developers outside the game industry to begin toying with the system last year in hopes of this new technology.

Hopefully Microsoft finds a way to really improve this technology and fix all of its problems because the Kinect would benefit our shopping experience! I would finally enjoy and maybe even offer to go grocery shopping with my mom on the weekends.

How would the Kinect Shopping Technology benefit you? Do you have any suggestions of anything else it should be able to do? Thanks for reading, leave comments below! :)

 Posted by at 9:51 pm  Tagged with:
Mar 082012
 

Being a college student who does not receive any financial aid, I try to save as much money as possible. Ever since my friends and I moved into an apartment after freshman year, we all couldn’t rely on our school cafeteria and just swiping our school ID to get food. Instead of having our food prepared for us breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we realized that we would have to be doing the preparation ourselves. This means driving to the grocery stores ourselves and buying ingredients for the meals that we’re trying to make. When we buy quick fresh produce, we usually go to Food 4 Less.  Food 4 Less organizes their fresh produce to one side of their store so it’s a lot

Grocery store coupons

easier for us to find whatever we need. Additionally, Ramen Noodles are very popular when it comes to a college students meal.

Ramen is cheap, easy to make and also, a lot of them come in plastic bowls or cups so its very portable. Food 4 Less items are organized and fresh. They usually throw out the old veggies and fruits and supply us with new ones.

However, I feel like price wise, Albertson’s excels our needs. Every time I grocery shop at Albertsons, all the items I need are always reduced with the savings preferred card. Also, Albertsons is very neat all around the store. Each aisle is conveniently labeled so we don’t have to be going on a scavenger hunt whenever we grocery shop. Albertson’s also has a varied selection of frozen foods. Frozen foods are also

Costco grocery; large amounts of items for less money

really popular for college students because microwaving it for a couple minutes is fast and doesn’t waste our time when we’re busy with school work or in a rush.

Another big “hit” for college students is Costco. College students like me go to Costco because we can get a big amount of what we want for a pretty good price. Water Bottles at Costco come in a pack of 35 or more and it’s pretty cheap. By buying a big pack of water bottles, we don’t have to repetitively go to our school mini mart or even 711 just to get one bottle of water each time we’re thirsty. THE

MONEY ADDS UP! This also applies to other drinks like Gatorade or juices as well. Also, I like to buy my sandwich meats and sandwich breads here. Although the meat packages come in excessively amounts, with a apartment of 4 girls who love to eat, this isn’t really a problem. Along with the sandwich meat, the bread at Costco comes in bundle of buy 2 for the price of one. COLLEGE STUDENTS LOVE GETTING MORE FOR LESS MONEY!

When grocery stores are open 24/7, it’s also very convenient to college students. We often stay up very late to study, complete homework, and especially during midterms and finals week. Food keeps us awake and we need more grocery stores to be open at the time of our needs. Changing a stores open hours could potentially raise their grocery store’s income!

Do you have any other suggestions on how to cater to a college student? What attracts you in a grocery store?
Thank you for reading! leave comments below! :)

Feb 082012
 

Woman holding two different brands of canned goods in a grocery store

Every weekend my grandma goes grocery shopping and buys hundreds of dollars worth of food. She buys ingredients to make many dishes for my whole family. Last weekend, I decided to assist my grandma with her grocery shopping. I knew that we had a huge party planned for my grandparent’s birthdays and that she would probably need help pushing the cart or loading the items into her car. Also, due to old age, I knew it was starting to get difficult for her to read food labels. As I was looking for noodles for my grandma’s soup, I noticed this lady down the aisle that was standing by the pasta sauces but looked very confused. I walked over to ask if she needed some help. She told me that she was looking for a specific pasta sauce and that she’s also visually impaired. I helped her get her sauce and when she walked away, I started to think about technologies that would help the visually impaired with their grocery shopping and also, help elders who are starting to have blurred vision.

When someone is visually impaired, it can take much longer to navigate around and find everything they’re looking for.  After finally locating the aisle and the right section, the toughest part is pinpointing a certain product “hidden” among the overwhelming selection. Just like the lady I met, she probably wasted so much of her time at this one store. However, there may be help on the way!

Recently, the supermarket chain Casino has set up a lab to test using Near Field Communication (NFC) tagging technology in Paris. This High Tech invention was specifically designed to aid individuals who are visually impaired, blind, and physically challenged find what they need in a grocery store.  How this works is that a product barcode is detected and is scanned using a smart phone or the newest, Ipads, and it would provide the details of a product. The details, including its name, pricing, and the ingredient list would be read aloud. This way the disabled would be able to find the exact product they’re looking for a

Grocery shopping tool for the visually impaired

lot faster and easier. Also, Personal settings can be programmed in ahead of time that would help each individual before they go to the grocery store.

If this new High Tech Invention tests results come out to be successful, I will be so happy for visually impaired to be able to use this device to assist their needs. This could also help elders that have difficulty reading labels with small fonts just like my grandma. I will have high hopes for many grocery store chains to adopt this helpful technology to lure in more customers. Paris gave us this idea and America must look into this!

Do you believe that this device could be a beneficial assistance for the visually impaired? Have you heard of any other techniques to use while navigating through aisles? Thanks for Reading! Please leave comments below :)