K-Scan: How Kaufland is expanding its digital self-service system in stores
More and more retailers and supermarket chains are trying to optimize their customer experience in their physical stores. Kaufland’s solution for this is its new digital shopping and payment option, K-Scan.
Self-service in retail stores attracts interest
Long lines, full shopping carts: If you arrive in this scenario at the checkouts of many larger supermarkets, you no longer have to join the back of the line. Instead, you can ring up your purchases yourself. At the self-service checkouts, customers scan their products themselves at the terminal and then easily pay with cash or card. There are usually employees ready to help if issues arise during the self-checkout.
According to a study conducted by the EHI Retail Institute in 2022, the number of conventional checkouts is continuously decreasing, while self-service systems are becoming more prominent. 43 percent of retailers surveyed in the DACH region already offer self-checkout systems; at 39 percent of retail stores, customers can self-scan their products using their own smartphone.
Self-service systems have proven to be a simple and time-saving alternative to payment at conventional checkouts, particularly for customers buying just a few items. At Kaufland as well, self-service checkouts are offered to customers in many branches. Now Kaufland has expanded their digital shopping service by introducing K-Scan.
Kaufland: Shop digitally and easily with K-Scan
K-Scan, the digital shopping and payment option, is currently available in over 50 Kaufland branches. The procedure is simple: Customers register for a Kaufland card and use it to rent a mobile hand-held scanner at the store entrance. While shopping, they use it to scan all of their items before putting them into their cart. When they’re done, they pay for all of their shopping via a QR code at the self-service checkout.
Offering our customers a shopping experience that is as pleasant and simple as possible is our top priority. With K-Scan, we have further simplified shopping in our branches. Thanks to the mobile hand-held scanner, you save a lot of time because, at the self-service checkout, you only have to pay for your purchases without putting them back in and out again. In addition, they [shoppers] always have an overview of their current purchase amount while they are shopping.
Kaufland is in tune with the zeitgeist of the rapidly advancing digital transformation. In addition to the convenience and time savings, direct scanning also has the advantage that customers receive an overview of the purchase total while shopping and can therefore optimally plan what they spend.
