Goods in the shopping trolley, on the conveyor belt at the checkout and then straight back into the trolley or shopping bag. This process is standard in many supermarkets, but annoying and time-consuming. Kaufland is putting an end to this with a new payment method.
The solution is called K-Scan and, after a test phase, is now available in 50 Kaufland branches throughout Germany. But what is behind K-Scan and how is the solution supposed to make shopping in the supermarket easier? TECHBOOK has the answers.
This is how Kaufland’s K-Scan works
The new way of shopping is reminiscent of the principle that Ikea recently introduced in all German branches. The advantage of K-Scan at Kaufland, however, is that the system is also available to people without a smartphone. And this is how the new payment method works:
Using a smartphone or alternatively a hand-held scanner available in the branches, Kaufland customers can scan the products they have selected directly when they take them off the shelf and place them in the shopping cart. Once the purchase is complete, a smartphone or hand scanner creates a QR code with the final invoice. Kaufland customers only have to show and pay for this K-Scan receipt at the self-service checkout. There is no need to unpack the shopping cart and then pack it again.
Prerequisite for the use of K-Scan is the registration with the Kaufland Card. The necessary hand scanners are available for customers at the entrance to the branches and can be attached directly to the shopping trolley with the help of a special holder so that your hands remain free during the tour of the supermarket. Alternatively, the products can also be scanned with a smartphone. However, customers need the Kaufland app for this.
Also read: New payment function at Ikea saves time and nerves
Prices and total bill always in view
Since you save yourself the repeated packing and unpacking of the shopping trolley, the time in the supermarket and at the checkout is also minimized. Another advantage of the new system is that customers can always see how high the bill is for the products currently in the shopping cart. Because K-Scan from Kaufland calculates the prices live.
“Offering our customers the most pleasant and simple shopping experience possible is our top priority. With K-Scan, we have further simplified shopping in our branches: Thanks to the mobile hand-held scanner, they save a lot of time, because at the self-service checkout, the purchases only have to be paid for without putting them back in and taking them out again,” says Anika Maier, Head of sales organization tills.
Independent scanning of the goods is nothing new. Many supermarkets, including Kaufland, already have self-service checkouts that allow you to do just that. However, even K-Scan is not yet as innovative as some of the solutions used in the USA. Some supermarkets overseas are already scanning the products automatically – for example using weight sensors that register removal from the shelf – and automatically charge the purchase to the credit card without any cash registers. We haven’t got that far in Germany yet, because shopping here is more traditional.