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Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector: A comparison

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Article  in  International Journal of RF Technologies Research and Applications · January 2014

DOI: 10.3233/RFT-150067

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International Journal of RF Technologies 6 (2014/2015) 207–224 207
DOI 10.3233/RFT-150067
IOS Press

Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector:

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A comparison analysis

S. Andriulo, V. Elia and M.G. Gnoni∗

Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Campus ecotekne, Via Monteroni, Lecce,
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Italy

Abstract. New business models are emerging in the FMCG retail sector due to the wide diffusion of digital
technologies; innovative tools - such as Pervasive Retailing Information Systems - are wide spreading all
over the world aiming to increase customer loyalty and retailer performance. Furthermore, the recent mass
diffusion of mobile technologies is also contributing to modify customer satisfaction towards the shopping
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process. In this context, new generations of self-service systems – i.e. mobile Self-Checkout Systems
(mSCSs)- are becoming widely adopted by FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) retail companies: the
aim is to both speed up the customer-shopping trip and increase customer satisfaction. A mSCS is a self-
checkout system based on mobile technology. Traditionally, self-checkout systems have been applied to
speed up the customer purchase process; impacts on retailer performance could also be evaluated in order
to optimize labor force at store level. The paper proposes a comparison analysis about the application of
different types of mSCSs at FMCG retail stores: the study will focus on analyzing quantitatively impacts
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on time based metrics both from the customer and the retailer points of view. The study will be helpful
for practitioners in designing their own mSCS; furthermore, a structured model for evaluating potential
impacts of innovative technologies at the retail sector as a result. Finally, a discrete-event simulation model
has been developed to quantitatively compare different mSCSs in a case study.

Keywords: Mobile Self-Checkout system, FMCG, NFC, customer satisfaction, customer cycle time,
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scenario analysis

1. Introduction

The retail sector is currently facing new challenges as the business environment is
quickly renovating due to several factors, such as the diffusion of e-commerce chan-
nels, high sensitivity of demand as well as shorter product life cycles. The increasing
diffusion of IOT (Internet of Things) technologies is now contributing to introduce
innovative services, which could enhance effectively customer service levels with
reduced investment costs. The strong competition with virtual (i.e. online) shops
is now forcing traditional retailers to develop new strategies and tools to face with
improving revenues and reducing their costs. One of the most widely used technology
is the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) firstly applied for increasing inventory
∗ Corresponding author: M.G. Gnoni, Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento,

Campus ecotekne, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy. Tel./Fax: +39832297366; E-mail: mariagrazia.
gnoni@unisalento.it.

1754-5730/14/15/$35.00 © 2014/2015 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved
208 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector

management for increasing revenue, reducing labour and shrinkage costs (Heese,
2007; Rekik, 2008; Bhattacharya et al., 2010; Hardgrave et al., 2011; Bertolini et al.,
2011/2012; De Marco et al., 2012; Elia & Gnoni, 2013). Recent applications have
also outlined the potentiality of RFID application for tracing customer behaviours in
retail stores (Wong et al., 2012).

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Furthermore, the wide diffusion of mobile and social technologies are now enabling
customers with new capabilities thus forcing retailers to innovative business models
(Rigby, 2011).
One emerging technology is the NFC (Near Field Communication): it is a proximity
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technology integrating RFID with mobile technology capabilities. Few pilot projects
have tried to use NFC for designing more effective Self-Checkout Systems (SCSs).
Self-service technology systems are defined as ‘technological interfaces that enable
customers to produce a service independent of direct service employee involvement’
(Meuter et al., 2000): their adoption often allows service providers to increase their
internal productivity, as well as customer satisfaction and loyalty (Meuter et al., 2005;
Kelly et al., 2010; Kallweit et al., 2014).
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Two main typologies of SCSs are now being applied worldwide: fixed and mobile
SCSs. In fixed SCSs, the customer at the cash desk uses a specific device (e.g. a
scanner or a fixed scanner) for identifying products, and, after the scanning process,
the payment process will be carried out. In mobile Self-Checkout System (mSCS),
the customer picks an item along the aisle, scans it with an identification device, and
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bags it directly. The retailer attention is now focusing on the latter type, due to the
quick diffusion of digital and mobile technologies. Several retail companies are now
testing and applying mSCSs (Cho & Fiorito, 2010; White et al., 2012; Chin-Ling
et al., 2013). Potential advantages of mSCSs could be provided to customers - such as
time convenience by reducing shopping time and higher user control (Demirci Orel &
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Kara, 2013; Li et al., 2013). On the other hand, potential costs due to its adoption are
perceived risks and cognitive effort associated to the service complexity.
A framework for efficiently comparing traditional versus automatic shopping pro-
cesses at the retail store is discussed in the paper: a set of time based metrics is then
developed and tested by using a simulation approach. Results of the proposed anal-
ysis could support practitioners to highlight critical factors affecting performance of
adopting SCSs at store levels by quantifying actual improvement points due to their
adoption. Thus, the proposed study will support retailer companies in an effective
assessment for re-engineering their retailing process by using digital technologies.
Furthermore, this study will contribute to define new reliable models for quantitatively
assessing business impacts of new emerging technologies in the retail sector.
The paper has been organized as follows: at first, a taxonomy of current SCSs is
proposed, aiming to outline their technical as well as organizational features; a critical
analysis about factors affecting SCS adoption at retail store is proposed in Section 3;
in Section 4, a general framework for analyzing SCS adoption is proposed. Finally,
a case study has been described and obtained results have been fully discussed in
Section 5.
 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector 209

2. Adopting SCSs in the retail sector: A brief critical analysis

Technologies based innovations in retail are now oriented to enhance consumer

shopping activity as well as retailer business profitability (Pantano & Vissone, 2014).
Even if SCSs have been applied since the 1990’s (Cho & Fiorito, 2010), SCSs are

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now facing a “new life” at the retail stores, especially ones based on mobile SCSs:
this phenomenon could be due to the quick diffusion of new technologies (e.g. virtual
shopping tools) enabling a new customer shopping experience. This trend is confirmed
by a study carried out by the Food Marketing Institute (Amato-McCoy, 2008) outlining
the increased attention of the retail sector towards SCSs: the study reports that 62.8%
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of grocery retailers have installed SCSs in at least one store location in the US in 2008;
furthermore, self- checkout lanes represent an important asset in the store as it carries
out 25% of total checkout lanes and 25% of the total transactions go through self-
checkout lanes. Furthermore, a London-based research firm (RBR, 2013) forecasts
that the global installed base of self-checkout terminals will rise from 170,000 in
2012 to reach 320,000 by 2018 also outlying an increasing trend of applications in
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Latin America and Middle East countries.

By analysing the scientific literature, several studies have outlined potential ben-
efits and criticalities due to the introduction of SCSs at the retail stores; as retailers
are often only adopters of the technology their decision mainly concerns the intro-
duction/adoption of a specific technology according to their business strategy. Thus,
SCSs adoption has been deeply analysed according to the customer point of view:
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by focusing on mSCSs, these systems allow to enhance shopper experience through

direct access to consistent product information, pricing and personalized promotions
(Wiechert et al., 2011). On the other hand, even if the technology could theoretically
increase customer service levels, an important issue is to analyze key factors for cus-
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tomer adoption of these new SCSs at store; this is imperative for retailers in order for
their investment to be profitable in new technologies.
Several field studies have been carried out about SCSs at retail stores: Mar-
zocchi and Zamit (2006) analyzed how positive features provided by SCSs could
improve customer opinion of the retail store thus allowing to increase customer loy-
alty. Orel and Kara (2013) have proposed a field analysis in a Turkish supermarket
about main factors influencing customer perceptions in evaluating a SCS service
quality: results outline greater importance on the SCS functionality (e.g. ease of
use, faster and reliable service). Elliott et al. (2009, 2013) have analyzed how the
customer technology readiness could affect consumers’ evaluation and intention to
use SCSs.
On the other hand, less research effort could be outlined by quantitatively analyzing
impacts on operational performance of retailer firm. Applying SCSs at retail stores will
allow several operative as well as strategic benefits for retailers (Meuter, 2000; Kelly,
2010). Allowing shoppers to scan items on their own can provide retailers to increase
store efficiency as well as customer satisfaction via high shopper independence and
accelerated checkout (Gelderman, 2011; Leung & Matanda, 2011).
210 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector

By a more strategic point of view, acquiring customer data with automatic devices
will support a reliable real-time shopping cart visibility allowing to deliver even more
precisely targeted marketing campaigns and promotions (Larson, 2005; Kowatsch &
Maas, 2010).
Finally, potential negative impacts due to SCS adoption on retailer operational

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performance could mainly be due to an increase in shrinkage risk: a recent industry
study proposed by ECR (2011) has analysed quantitatively this phenomenon outlining
that adopting SCSs have not contributed to increase the level of shrinkage in the retail
industry; furthermore, guidelines for retailers for minimizing this risk by an effective
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SCS design have been also proposed.

3. A taxonomy proposal for classifying mobile SCSs

SCSs contribute to reduce one of the most critical problems outlined by retailers as
well as by customers in traditional stores: the longer waiting line at their checkouts
(Chu & Morrison, 2003). This phenomenon has also increased in the last few years due
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to continuous reduction in the number of employees in the stores applied by companies

to cut labour costs; an indirect impact of this strategy is the increasing difficulty
for customers in finding store personnel for assistance due to a lower employee to
customer ratio in retail stores, which also contribute to reduce the overall customer
satisfaction level. Thus, mSCS could be relevant resources to guarantee high customer
service level and to optimize labour force costs.
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By analysing current applications of mSCSs, a taxonomy could be proposed based

on the scanning device used in the identification process carried out by the customer;
two main types could be outlined:
• Dedicated device scanning process;
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• Smartphone scanning process: two scanning technologies could be applied, such

as barcode or an automatic technology, i.e. Near Field Communication (NFC).
When dedicated devices are applied in SCSs, the shopping process – differently from
the traditional one - starts with customer identification, which is usually carried out
by a loyalty card. The identification step is essential for providing the scanning device
to customers; next, the customer picks up the dedicated device from a rack area: the
device is usually a small mobile wireless device as digital shopping devices located in
the shopping chart increased basket sizes. Next, the customer scans each item bar code
to buy and put the item into an electronic (as well as a physical) shopping cart. The
mobile device enables ease of control for shopping lists, a change in product quantity,
to return an item to the shelf from the cart, etc. After completing the shopping process,
the customer leaves the device in a kiosk area where he/she carries out the traditional
payment process (by credit cards, by cash, etc.) without unloading the chart.
Main limits characterizing this system could be due to the high investment and
maintenance costs required for dedicated devices, and the not constant reading process
speed due to barcode adoption.
 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector 211

When smartphones are used as a scanning device, the self-checkout process is

slightly modified as the customer uses its own smartphone for item scanning; the
identification phase carried out by a loyalty card is useless. Otherwise, the customer
has to install on their smartphone an application (i.e. an App) for supporting the
shopping process in the store. When the customer enters the store, he/she accesses the

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store wi-fi network in order to access real-time data through the application installed
in the mobile phone. Next, the overall functionality is the same described by the
previous system as the scanning process is based on a barcode reading.
High investment costs characterizing previous systems are reduced, as the scan-
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ning device is the customer’s own smartphone; on the other hand, limits due to the
application of a barcode for item scanning are still present.
Innovative applications are now testing the application of an automatic mobile
identification system for item scanning based on NFC (Near Field Communication)
technology. The NFC is the evolution of well-known RFID technology - widely
applied in the retail and logistics sectors- as it integrates contactless identification
with mobile devices. NFC is a technology for short-range wireless connectivity based
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on a series of standards that enable, in a simply and intuitive way, a bidirectional

communication between two devices, i.e. the mobile phone and the tag (e.g. attached
to an object). NFC operates with a low frequency (i.e. 13.56 MHz) and it allows
high speed data exchange (usually from 106 kbit/s to 848 kbit/s). Its first field of
application is contactless payment, but, now it is quickly wide spreading in other
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sectors. Its recent diffusion is also due to its massive presence in several mobile
phone devices. A recent research (Berg Insight, 2013) outlines that the global sales of
devices equipped with implement NFC technology have reached 30 million in 2011;
furthermore, the estimated quantity by 2016 will be about 700 million. Thus, these
data confirm that this technology will become a standard for mobile phones placed
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nowadays on the market.

When NFC technology is applied for automatic item scanning in SCSs, operations
are very similar to the previous case: the main difference is due to the technological
device (i.e. the NFC mobile phone) providing an automatic scanning system; it allows
a higher reading speed and process reliability (von Reischach et al., 2009) than bar
code scanning devices.

4. A framework for analyzing performance of mobile SCS at retail stores

As defined in the introduction section, the focus of this study is to analyze the time
convenience due to the application of a mSCS at a retail store. Thus, a time based
process analysis of both a traditional and SCs-based shopping trip is proposed as fol-
lows. Traditional shopping processes at stores could be characterized by standardized
activities: after entry, customers locate their products and load them physically in the
shopping cart; next, customers move to the checkout area. If the queue at the point
of sale is non existent, they immediately unload all products in the cart in order to
212 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector

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OR
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Fig. 1. The traditional shopping process at a retail store.

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start the identification process (usually based on bar codes) carried out by the cash
employer and the payment phase could be executed.
According to customer point of view, some operations could be evaluated as a waste
of time; one of the most important is the waiting time at the POS line (Weijeters, 2005):
this is due to several factors starting from the limited resources to the high demand
variability of service at the POS line. Main activities in the traditional shopping
process are depicted in Fig. 1. Next, a detailed process analysis has been carried out
on both traditional and SCS based shopping trips. Main operations characterizing a
shopping trip are the customer entry process, the pick-up process and, finally, the
payment process.
Firstly, these processes are analyzed for traditional shopping trips:

• The customer entry process: the customer enters in the store without be recog-
nized; thus, the customer entry is not traced by the retailer.
• The pick-up process: the first activity carried out by the customer is to localize
items in the store layout. Next, the requested quantity of the i-th item located at
the j-th position is usually loaded in a shopping cart once all selected items have
 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector 213

been loaded. Thus, the total process time, defined as TIMEpick−up is reported
in Equation 1:
 


m

n
TIMEpick−up = Tlocaliz + Tload ∗ NItemi (1)

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j=1 i=1 j

where Tlocaliz is the time necessary for the customer to locate items in the supermarket
area and to move to j-th item location; Tload is the unitary time to load an item in the
shopping chart and NItemi is the total number of a specific item picked up by the
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customer in the j-th location.
• The Payment process: at the end of the pick up process, the customer goes to
the cash desk, where each item in the cart has to be unloaded onto the conveyor
belt. Next, the store cashier has to automatically identify items (usually by bar-
code technology) in order to calculate the total amount for each customer. The
payment process could be carried out in different ways, by cash or by credit
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cards. These three contributions determine the TIMEpayment value reported in

Equation 2:
 n   n 


m


m

TIMEpayment = Tunload ∗ NItemi + Tid ∗ NItemi
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j=1 i=1 j j=1 i=1 j

+ Tpayment (2)

where Tunload is the unitary time for unloading an item from the shopping chart;
Tid is unitary identification time and Tpayment is the total time for the payment
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process.
As resources at the cash desks are limited, customers often have to wait in the queue
line before starting the payment process. These are “time wasting” activities, as they
do not add any value to customer service levels. On the other hand, applying SCSs at
the retail store modifies some operations carried out in the previous traditional process:
their application aims to speed up the checkout processes through a re-engineering
of the loading/unloading process: items are physically and virtually loaded in a cart
every time they are taken from the shelves. The adoption of a SCS allows the product
unloading process at the cash desk to be postponed after the payment process thus
reducing the customer shopping cycle time.
• The customer entry process: applying SCSs requires customer identification,
on entry, when a dedicated device or a mobile phone is applied for the self-
checkout process. Thus, the identification process allows to use the scanning
device properly.
• The pick-up process: after localizing the items, the customer uses the scanning
device (which could be their own mobile phone or a dedicated scanning device)
214 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector

for identifying items that have to be purchased before loading them physically
into the shopping cart. Thus, together with a real shopping cart, a virtual shopping
cart is also filled. The new process time is defined by Equation 3:
 

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m n n
TIMEpick−up = Tlocaliz + Tid ∗ Itemi + Tload ∗ NItemi (3)
j=1 i=1 i=1 j

• Payment process: after completing the selection phase, the customer moves onto
the self-checkout area: the self-checkout system consists of two main operations:
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at first, the virtual cart is checked by the customer and after a confirmation the
payment process could start. The process cycle time is calculated by Equation 4:

TIMEpayment = Tconfirmation + Tpayment (4)

where Tconfirmation is the time required by the customer to check the virtual cart and
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confirm the total amount which has to be paid

Main phases are depicted in Fig. 2. It has to be noted that one activity – i.e. item
unloading at the cash desk – has been moved after the end of the payment process
as items are already loaded in the virtual shopping chart: a virtual shopping cart is
loaded directly by the customer each time an item is physically loaded in the shopping
cart.
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Finally, a simulation model has been developed aiming to compare traditional

versus self-checkout based scenarios adopted at retail stores; simulation models have
revealed an effective, analyzing, technical and organizational alternative in the retail
sector (Kanna & Takakuwa, 2008; Gnoni & Rollo, 2010; Tromp et al., 2012; Reiner
et al., 2013).
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5. The case study

5.1. Main hypothesis and scenarios

A case study scenario analysis has been developed: it regards the application of a
SCS in a retail store of the FMCG sector where food and non-food products are sold.
The medium size supermarket with a total retail area of 640 m2 has been considered;
the store layout is depicted in Fig. 3. Three operational scenarios have been evaluated,
one based on the traditional shopping process and two based on SCSs such as:
• scenario A: it is the baseline scenario where the traditional shopping process is
carried out without adopting SCS;
• scenario B1: a mSCS based on a dedicated device is adopted to identify products
during the shopping process; the device (e.g. a simple scanning device) uses the
own product barcode to identify items. At the end of the shopping process, the
customer goes to specific collection areas where the dedicated device is put on
 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector 215

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Fig. 2. The mobile SCS based shopping process.

specific racks; immediately, the customer item list is printed and the payment
process could be carried out individually by different ways. One example of this
mSCS is now working in a several stores of an Italian FMCG company;
• scenario B2: a mSCS where product identification is carried out by the customer
mobile phone; the identification process is carried out by using multiple tech-
nologies: the first option is to use the NFC technology to communicate with
shelves equipped by NFC tags. Customers tap their phones on the shelves to
identify products and prices. Alternatively, if the customer mobile phone is not
equipped with NFC technology, barcode or QR code scanning could be car-
ried out using its own phone. The customer, before using the mobile phone as a
mSCS, has to install a dedicated application. The NFC option has been evaluated
in the comparison analysis trough the proposed simulation model. At the end
of the physical shopping process, the customer has to end the virtual shopping
process by using the phone; the payment could be also carried out directly by
using the NFC technology.
216 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector

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Fig. 3. The analyzed store layout.

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Fig. 4. The two scenarios (B1 and B2) for mSCSs at a FMCG store.
 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector 217

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Fig. 5. The customer arrival rate introduced in the simulation analysis.

The description of two mSCS scenarios (B1 and B2 respectively) are depicted
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in Fig. 4. The comparison between traditional and SCSs will be carried out at one
dedicated cash desk (i.e. cash 3 in Fig. 3), defined as “fast cash” which allows a
maximum number of 20 items for each customer. Operational data regarding the
proposed test case are described as follows:
• the customer arrival rate at the supermarket varies according to the time period;
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data are reported in Fig. 5. The length of simulation period is equal to 11 hours
(from 09:00 a.m. to 08:00 p.m. which refers to the typical opening time for a
FMCG retail store);
• the customer average speed with the chart in the supermarket area is equal to
0.8 m/s; the customer loading and unloading times are equal and their unitary
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average value is equal to 3 s/item. The payment process will be carried out in all
scenarios by bank transactions, as cash is not allowed at the fast-cash desk: the
proposed Tpayment value is 10 [s].
All previous data regarding the retail process have been introduced based on average
values provided by interviews with retail managers, otherwise, data regarding the
mSCS scenarios (e.g. identification cycle times) have been deducted by a laboratory
test where pilot tests have been realized.
The identification process time Tid depends on the specific scenario as its value
is affected by the product identification device technology (see section 3). When bar
codes are applied – in scenario A at the cash desk and scenario B1 with the mobile
scanning device-, the Tid value has been fixed according to a Gaussian distribution
with a mean value of 7 seconds per item and variance equal to 20%. On the other hand,
when self-scanning process based on NFC technology is working (scenario B2), the
identification process is usually faster (von Reischach et al., 2009): the estimated Tid
value is equal to a Gaussian distribution with a mean value of 5 seconds per item and
a variance equal to 20%, i.e. N(5, 0.2).
218 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector

The scenario comparison will be developed based on a set of key performance

indicators (KPIs) which refer to customer service levels as well as retailer operations.
Proposed KPIs are:
• Total Customer Throughput Time (TCTT): it is the total time spent by each

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customer in the store, i.e. after the final payment process. The TCTT is defined
as:

TCTT = TIMEpick up + CWT + TIMEpayment

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where TIMEpick up and TIMEpayment have been defined in Section 3; CWT is the
Customer’s Waiting Time in the queue lane at the cash area. CWT represents the time
spent by each customer waiting in the queue lane before the checkout process. The
TIMEpayment is the total process time at the cash area before the checkout; its value
is affected by the SCS adoption as defined in equation 2 and 4; the same occurs for
the TIMEpick up estimation as defined in Equations 1 and 3.
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• Average size of the queue: it is defined as the average number of customers in

the queue lane at the self-checkout;
• Average number of customers in the process: this represents the average service
rate of the retailer.
Finally, a discrete event simulation model has been developed by using the Anylogic
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release 6.9® .

5.2. Results analysis

The simulation has been developed through three discrete event simulation models
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(one for each scenario); the software is Anylogic® 6.9. The three simulation models
are characterized by the same operational data except for the development of the
shopping process is carried out by customers which varies from traditional process
(scenario A) and mSCSs with dedicated device (scenario B1) or customer mobile
phones (scenario B2). The simulation analysis has provided the estimation of time-
based KPIs previously introduced; data evaluated are reported in Table 1; average and
standard deviation values have been estimated based on a total number of replications
for each simulation model equal to 10 which has been estimated as the optimal value
fo replications according to randomness introduced in each simulation model.
By comparing baseline scenario (A) with mSCS scenarios (B1 and B2), quantitative
results outline the effectiveness of adopting mSCS for increasing customer service
level: a significant reduction (i.e. about 81% for scenario B1 and about 82% for
scenario B2) in the TCTT values has been estimated when a mSCS is working at the
store level; a similar trend is obtained in CWTs (i.e. about 99% in both scenarios)
compared to scenario A. The reduction of customer cycle time (TCTT value) in the
store is mainly due to the reduction of “waste times”, that is waiting times in the
queue quantified by the decrease of CWT (about 99.97%) values in scenario B1 and
 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector 219

Table 1
Time based KPI values estimated from the proposed simulation

KPIs Scenario A Scenario B1
MeanA-B1 Scenario B2
MeanA -B2

Mean St.Dev. Mean St.Dev. Mean St.Dev.

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TCTT [s] 1,495.01 1,129.87 307.02 137.05 79.46% 263.85 142.48 82.35%
TIMEpick up [s] 135.63 9.42 296.58 122.679 −118.67% 256.62 141.40 −89.21%
TIMEidentification [s] 157.60 167.19 156.43 133.49 0.74% 136.68 125.67 13.27%
TIMEpayment [s] 224.91 167.44 10.2 0 95.46% 10.2 0 95.46%
CWT [s] 1,146.88 1,109.32 0.24 1.22 99.97% 0.23 1.26 99.98%
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The value for the variation estimated are all reported in bold.

B2. A slight contribution is also due to the reduction in the estimated TIMEpayment
value which is similar in percentages but it is lower in absolute values as it varies from
224.91 s to 10.2 s in both mSCS based scenarios. It has to be noted that the reduction
of the TIMEpayment is a triggering event that enables the overall reduction of waiting
times in the process. Thus, by analyzing TIMEpayment contributions in scenario A,
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about 23% is due to item unloading at the cash desk, about 70% is due to barcode
identification at the cash desk and about 7% is the actual time used for payment.
The simulation analysis has outlined that the bar code identification at the cash desk
represents the most important source of inefficiencies in the traditional retail process,
which could be overcome by adopting mSCSs. Adopting mSCSs at stores allows a
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process re-engineering at the cash desk as product loading and unloading at the cash
desk is not mandatory as they are already loaded at the virtual cash desk directly
by the customer. The virtual shopping cart provided by mSCSs allows customers to
identify items at each point of picking, and, also to the postponement of unloading
product operations after the payment step.
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This quantitative result is the most important for outlining the overall time con-
venience in adopting mSCSs, as it is the main factor contributing to boost customer
cycle times at stores. The performance improvement highlighted with the mSCS has
been obtained even if the TIMEpick up in scenario B1 as well as in scenario B2 is
higher than in scenario A; this increase is due to a higher pick up time required
for loading virtual items during the shopping trip when the mSCS is adopted as the
identification process evaluated quantitatively trough the TIMEidentification indicator is
quite similar.
Furthermore, estimated values for service level KPIs are reported in Table 2: data
confirm the positive impact of adopting an SCS also for retailer internal operations
quantified in terms of queue lengths and customer in the process as reported previ-
ously. The first relevant result is the increase in customer service ratio - from 74 %
to 76% in scenario B1 and B2 respectively - when a SCS has been adopted; this
result is obtained by drastically reducing queue lanes. A similar trend is outlined by
the average number of customers in the queue lane which is equal to about 74% of
the total average number of customers in the process in Scenario A, thus outlining a
great inefficiency of retail operations. On the other hand, adopting a mSCS confirms
220 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector

Table 2
Operational KPI values estimated from the proposed simulation

KPIs Scenario A Scenario B1
MeanA-B1 Scenario B2
MeanA -B2

Mean St. Dev. Mean St.Dev. Mean St.Dev.

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Average size of the queue 4.487 4.349 0.001 0.011 99.98% 0.001 0.008 99.99%
[customer per simulation]
Average number of 5.821 4.601 1.514 1.268 73.99% 1.393 2.007 76.05%
customers in the process
[customer per simulation]
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The value for the variation estimated are all reported in bold.

Table 3
Qualitative estimation of investment costs in each mSCS scenario

Investment Cost mSCS scenario

B1 - Dedicated B2 - Customer
scanning device mobile phone
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Purchase cost for dedicated 10,000 –

scanning device [D ]
Purchase cost for NFC tags applied – 1,000
in the shelves [D ]
Purchase cost for developing the APP for – 2,000
the mobile phone [D ]
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Purchase and installation cost for – 5,000

the WI-FI infrastructure

a relevant reduction of customer in the queues (less than 1%) compared to the total
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average number of customers in the process.

Next, the simulation comparison has provided effective feedback about the most
suitable technology for designing a mSCS; an analysis of the impact of different
technologies on mSCS performance has been carried out by comparing data estimated
in scenario B1 and B2. The introduction of a mobile phone as a identification device
based on NFC technology in the mSCS allows to improve customer service levels
as well as retailer operation performance: by comparing to Scenario B1, the TCTT
value in scenario B2 is reduced by 14% and the estimated CWT value outlines another
great reduction (about 5%). The main contribution to TCTT reduction is due to the
picking time decrease (about 13%) obtained when adopting the NFC technology; the
average number of customers in the process is also reduced (about 8%) allowing an
increase in the overall retailer productivity. Thus, the scenario B2 has outlined as the
most effective one for increasing both customer service levels (in terms of speeding
up process) as well as retailer internal performance.
Even if the focus of the proposed analysis is on time performance, a brief economic
analysis about the estimation of investment costs for each mSCS scenario is syn-
thetized in Table 3 under specific hypotheses. These values refer to costs estimated
 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector 221

for equipping each single retail store of the company. The total number of dedicated
device in scenario B1 is equal to 50, by assuming this value is the maximum number
of customer using at the same time the mSCS in a medium size supermarket; the total
number of tag applied at shelves is equal to 1000. Different costs have been evaluated
such as:

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• Purchase cost of dedicated scanning device: this cost is not present in scenario
B2 where the customer mobile phone is used as an identification device. Two
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main contributions have to be analyzed for estimating total cost: the unitary cost
of the scanning device (which has been estimated equal to 200 D /device) and the
total number of devices which is usually high according to maximum number of
customers in the retail store which could use the mSCSs at the same time, and
it is equal to 50.
• Purchase cost of tags applied at store shelves: this cost is not present when
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dedicated device is used for scanning barcode printed in the product. The total
cost for scenario B2 has been estimated as 1,000 D due to an unitary cost of NFC
tag (which also include tag writing and replacement cost) equal to 1 D /tag. It has
to be noted that other identification technologies (bar code or QR code scanning)
could be applied using the customer mobile phone if the NFC tag is not available
at the shelves.
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• Purchase cost for developing the APP for the mobile phone: this tool is required
only in scenario B2 where the customer before using the mSCS has to download
this application on its mobile phones. It has to be noted that values estimated in
Table 3 refers to the part of costs for the software development assigned to each
retail store owned by the retail company;
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• Purchase and installation cost for WI-FI infrastructure: this infrastructure is

required in the store area to provide connections between the customer mobile
phone with the virtual shopping chart.

It has to be noted that the last two contributions represent value added tools for
the retail company as they could be used also for other essential applications (e.g.
proximity marketing, loyalty systems, etc.)
This brief economic analysis outlines that the NFC-based mSCS (scenario B2) is
characterized by the lower total investment cost for the retail company as the scanning
device used is the customers mobile phone, thus eliminating the purchase cost of an
alternative dedicated device.
Finally, the use of mobile technology in a mSCS will also provide the retail company
with other indirect benefits – such as easy social interactions, a synergy with loyalty
and fast payment systems – allowing to support an effective omnichannel retailing
experience.
222 S. Andriulo et al. / Mobile self-checkout systems in the FMCG retail sector

6. Conclusion

The quick diffusion of mobile and social technology is now forcing the retail
sector towards new organizational models for improving customer satisfaction and
loyalty. The adoption of new technologies or tools at retail store often requires a

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re-engineering process in order to be fully profitable for retailers. Currently, several
big retail companies are adopting mobile SCSs at their stores aiming to speeding up
customer cycle time and optimizing labour force. The debate about their adoption
is quite conflicting, as an efficient SCSs application requires both a technological
and an effective organizational assessment. Differently from the previous adoption of
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SCSs in the 90’s, several retail companies are now adopting SCSs based on mobile
devices; previous ones are mainly based on fixed self-checkout kiosks which are more
complex to adopt by customers.
The study proposes a framework for analyzing the adoption of a mobile SCS in
a retail store: a scenario analysis has been carried out aiming to compare different
SCSs based on time performance indicators. The focus of the proposed analysis is on
OR

quantitatively assessing customer as well as retailer time convenience in adopting a

specific type of SCS. A discrete event simulation has compared different technological
SCSs in order to evaluate the most effective systems based on time performance. The
aim of our study is to support both practitioners and researchers in designing a more
effective SCS in retail stores.
Further development will be oriented in evaluating if and how the adoption of a
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SCS could affect logistic operations carried out at the store’s “back office”, such as
the retail warehouse.

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