Coffee Talk

Wait, There’s No More Checkout at the Grocery Store?

A few weeks ago, we had a discussion in my Emerging Media class about new media pushing old media out of the mix. Would the Kindle replace books? Would online news kill real newspapers? Would email mean the extinction of the USPS?

We all decided it would be a very long time before new media completely took over the world, if it ever did, just like the advent of television did not mean the death of radio. Although, there have been instances when a new technology changed how we lived. Remember VHS? What about days before DVR? Alright, are you still listening to cassette tapes? Chances are these products’ successors have a permanent place in your life…until a new product replaces them.

Whenever I see a new product hit the market, I wonder if it will be the product that ultimately changes our lives. I don’t think that people really thought the iPod would revolutionize the way we listen to music when it first hit the market, but now cars are being designed with the iPod in mind and CDs are considered to be from the stone age.

Stop and Shop Goes Hi-Tech with Scan It!

This thought ran through my head when I was at the grocery store last night. Stop and Shop just released “Scan It” which allows you to scan and bag your purchases as you shop, eliminating the need to “check out.” At the end of your visit, you scan your scanner at the register and your total pops up on the screen. Simply pay and you’re on your way!

Now, let me explain one sappy story behind this. There is a lovely little woman named Virginia who has been my Stop and Shop cashier for over a year now. She takes longer than most cashiers, but she is one of the nicest women I have ever met in my life. I don’t mind waiting on line to have good ‘ole Virge as my cashier. Last week, Virginia came in with a cast on her arm. The next week, the Scan It service was available. You want to know what ran through my head? “What if the scanners take over and cashiers aren’t needed? How will Virginia pay her medical bills?”

I know. That’s extreme. But you have to admit that it makes you think. 50 years down the road- will we need cashiers? Or will they just be a part of our distant memory?

Scan It’s Marketing Efforts

Besides being a way to avoid the checkout lines, the Scan It system allows companies to display coupons during the

Scan It- The newest medium for marketers?

visit. Periodically, my Scanner let out this extremely loud chime and a coupon for something would pop up on the screen. I always looked. Every. Single. Time. My boyfriend actually got annoyed, telling me “it’s another ad! You don’t need to keep looking at it!”

If I was looking at it every time it chimed, perhaps everyone else was as well. In that case, there is much opportunity available in this technology for marketers. Since shoppers use their Stop and Shop card to “rent” the scanner, there is the potential to gather data on each customer to display the most relevant coupons for them. The vegetarian shopper with a toddler at home may receive coupon ads for Morningstar Farms and Huggies, while the chicken eater with a little pup at home may receive coupons for Purdue and Milk Bones. How’s that for target marketing?

But before we get all excited about Scan It, let’s take a minute to think about Virginia and her livelihood. (By the way, you have no idea how much I wish I had a picture of Virginia to post. It would totally help my argument.)