Cummins Allison: Grocers Cash in on Technology to Meet the Challenges of 2016

MT. PROSPECT, Ill.

In a rapidly changing and highly competitive industry, grocers are always striving for continuous improvement and looking for the best ways to meet new challenges. In 2016, the pressure is on to differentiate, go small and control costs.

In part one of this two-part news brief series, Cummins Allison, the leading innovator and provider of check, currency and coin handling solutions, discusses how grocers can meet the challenges of 2016 through the use of self-service coin technology.

Continued Differentiation: Additional Services are Key

With little room to further reduce prices, growing pressure from online grocery options and increased competition from specialty food markets, many grocery stores are wondering how they can stay relevant. One answer is to differentiate themselves through additional services – which will keep stores front-and-center in the minds of shoppers.

Just as some stores are hiring trained chefs, sommeliers or even registered dieticians¹, savvy grocers have also bolstered the customer experience by deploying additional front-of-store services. Grocers can differentiate themselves from the competition with self-service coin counting services.

Machines that feature excellent up-time, fast and accurate performance and consumer-friendly, easy-to-use interfaces can be used to retain current customers, draw in new ones and increase the frequency of return visits. And, selecting a provider that offers flexible procurement options makes it easier and more cost-effective than ever to deploy this value-added service.

Better Utilization of Front-of-Store: Even in a Smaller Footprint

There’s no ignoring the fact that grocery stores are getting smaller: the average grocery store size started shrinking from about 45,000 square feet three years ago, after decades of increasing year after year.¹ Even grocery “giants” like Wal-Mart, Lunds and Kroger are going small – with some prototyping stores that are just 7,500 square feet.¹

In smaller footprint stores, especially, effective utilization of all available floor space is critical – and that includes the front-of-store. Small-footprint self-service coin redemption machines provide grocers with an opportunity to turn underutilized front-of-store space into a revenue source, without taking up valuable floor space.

Controlling Supplier Costs: Opportunities with Dual Sourcing

There is also growing interest in dual sourcing in the grocery industry, which offers the opportunity to test new partners in a reduced-risk environment. For example, grocers certainly don’t offer just one type of meat product, and testing lets grocers identify the products that sell the most and offer more of them.

The same is true for front-of-store services. There are alternative suppliers for coin counting services that provide flexibility and various procurement programs that can help grocers earn more profits, depending on the program selected. Dual-sourcing allows grocers to select the right mix of suppliers to deliver maximum return on investment.

To learn more about how grocery stores can meet the challenges of 2016 with self-service coin technology, visit www.cumminsallison.com/go/change.

Sources:

¹ npr.com, “Grocery Stores are Losing You. Here’s How they Plan to Win You Back”, March 2015, http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/30/395774725/grocery-stores-are-losing-you-heres-how-they-plan-to-win-you-back

About Cummins Allison

Cummins Allison is the leading innovator and provider of check, currency and coin handling solutions, as well as full-function ATMs. Our world-class sales and service network includes hundreds of local representatives in more than 50 offices in North America, 6 wholly-owned subsidiaries and is represented in more than 70 countries around the world. For more information about our award-winning solutions, visit www.cumminsallison.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160119006251/en/

Cummins Allison Corp.
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Vice President Marketing
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