De toekomst van de servicebalie in de food-retail 29 JUN 2023 As part of the National Prevention Agreement, Dutch supermarkets will have a ban on the sale of tobacco products from 1 July 2024. This means major changes in the checkout area of the supermarket, especially with regard to the function of the service counter. The sale of tobacco has been the most important source of turnover at the service desk for years and makes the use of a service desk employee profitable. From an efficiency point of view, the service desk activities have expanded over time to include other service-related activities, but these activities are not commercially viable in themselves and are financed from tobacco sales. With the disappearance of tobacco sales, the revenue model behind the service desk has become obsolete in its current form. There will soon be insufficient income to offset the wage costs and the shop floor space occupied by a service counter, so the service counter will take on a different role or may even disappear completely.Current activities service desk Rethinking the role of the service desk means that alternatives must be found for the current activities that take place there. However, it also offers opportunities to use the available retail floor space more efficiently. The role of the service desk employee is changing and can be given a different interpretation. In order to find alternatives, it is therefore useful to first make an inventory of the current activities performed by the service desk in addition to the sale of tobacco. Examples include the following activities, in order of importance and the degree of impact on the cash register area. Activities Sale of theft-sensitive items Human point of contact for service questions Sell raffles and scratch cards Postal and parcel services Storage of office supplies Sell behind the payment area Gift cards and credit cards Cashier service dutiesAlternative solutions For all the activities mentioned, solutions are conceivable to shape these activities in a different way. The aim must be to maintain or even improve the level of service that customers experience as much as possible.Sell items susceptible to theft The sale of articles that are susceptible to theft at the service desk is prompted by the high loss of these types of articles on the shop floor. If the service desk disappears, there are various alternative options that also limit the risk of theft. A simple measure is to present these items as close as possible to the checkout area so that they are always in view of the self-scan host and cashiers. Another possibility is to present these articles in a closed display case and to always have the sale go through a store employee. Vending machines can be used, using existing vending technology, Machine Vision or RFiD technology. When these articles are offered at multiple locations on the shop floor, article security can be applied using RF/AM EAS systems, RFiD or hybrid variants thereof. Machine Vision technology is also possible. Finally, articles that are susceptible to theft can be stored at a manned checkout or at a hosting station. Human touch point The service desk is the first point of contact for customers with questions, return items, etc. This role can easily be fulfilled by the host of the self-scan area. A miniaturized service counter can be placed between the self-scan area and the exit of the store to provide customers with a fixed point of contact. Another possibility is to install a kiosk, where frequently asked questions from customers are answered remotely via a chatbot or a service employee and assistance can be requested from a store employee. Games of chance Games of chance are mainly sold as an impulse item together with tobacco sales. This means that the sale of games of chance will also take a different turn in the supermarket. A number of alternatives are conceivable here. Games of chance can be offered digitally with a self-service kiosk equipped with a ticket printer. Another possibility is that customers are given the option to purchase digital games of chance via the self-checkout screen. A comparable option is conceivable for manned cash registers, where games of chance are offered on a display and are printed and settled by the cashier. It may also be a consideration to stop selling games of chance. It is expected that with future regulations this article group will also disappear from the supermarket in the long term. Postal and parcel services Postal and parcel services are an important part of the service desk. These services are mainly offered as a service and to generate traffic for the supermarket. Parcel lockers are already being widely used, where customers can pick up their parcels by entering a code on the screen to open the locker. Returns can be handed in at a self-service kiosk. The customer scans the barcode on the product, the kiosk prints the return receipt and the customer places the return package on a roll container with return packages. Sending registered letters can now also be done digitally, this process can also be handled via a self-service kiosk. Other activities A number of activities that are often outsourced to the service desk are somewhat less impactful, but will still have to be solved differently. Items such as bags, receipt rolls, office supplies, etc. can be stored in the cashier's office. The sale of flowers, seasonal items and promotional items around holidays can be moved to the shop floor or settled via a separate self-checkout outside the regular payment area. Tasks such as answering the phone, issuing shopping cart tokens, accepting returns can be moved to the hosting station in the payment area.Find the perfect solution The team of experts at Pan Oston is happy to help you find the perfect solution for the redesign of the service area, for example by integrating the service function into a self-scan plaza. As a specialist in checkout and self-service solutions, we have been providing tailor-made solutions for payment, transaction, information and reception processes for more than 50 years. Our innovative and modularly designed solutions are hardware and software independent, so that all your requirements for an optimal front-end are met. So rely on our award-winning design team, who won the prestigious Red Dot Design award in 2018 and 2023, to ensure that the practicality of each solution is accompanied by a modern look that suits your business. Let's talk! Contact us now for a free consultation. Make an appointment now! deel