Pushing frontiers in shopping convenience and green technology

Creating brand awareness and customer loyalty, whilst improving in-store efficiency and cutting down energy consumption. Marketing, operational and ecological targets in food retailing can be at odds with one another. How to bring an enhanced, more convenient shopping atmosphere for the customer and realise a more economical and greener supermarket model at the same time? Innovative hardware may be part of the solution.
Elsevier Food International, Vol. 11, Number 1, February 2008
Vincent Hentzepeter

More storage capacity, clickable shelves, stuck-in constructions for increased individuality, improved visualisation of merchandise and curved designs that follow the natural contours of the store lay-out. Shelf systems are becoming increasingly flexible and better accustomed to the needs of retailers. But, tell suppliers, not at extra costs! While elegance and shelf light is certainly in fashion, retailers are also looking for solutions to increase their shelf capacity without impairing the transparency of their stores. Shop fitting suppliers now offer shelf systems that enable retailers to store more merchandise on the same floor space without altering frame dimensions. An extra low base for instance may render an extra display shelf for most products, while inclusion of central back panels increases available product space up to approximately ten per cent in depth for each shelf.

Premium illumination
Lighting is becoming increasingly important for an attention-grabbing and distinctive brand presentation. Lighting effects, lamp designs and wattages play their role in the overall corporate lighting design. The new Schäfer REWE supermarket in Niederkassel, for example, was fitted by Oktalite with decorative, suspended luminaires with metal halide lamps. The result is a pleasant glare-free type of lighting in the checkout zone and a brilliant fresh appearance in the fruit & vegetables section. By using lighting management systems, retailers gain better control over their complex and ambitious lighting needs. Zumtobel Lighting GmbH system now offers Luxmate Emotion, a tool designed for shop owners. Such solutions help reduce energy consumption in supermarkets and bring more flexibility to create different atmospheres. 
Special lamp technologies and reflectors are a prerequisite to achieving a sales-promoting effect without damaging the merchandise. Optimum colour rendition and minimum UV radiation and heat exposure are key parameters when selecting a light concept for fruit- and vegetables or bread and meat departments. Metal halides feature optimal luminous efficacy, improved colour palettes, increased lifespan and colour stability. Their only real weakness is in red rendition. This is caused by a lower output in the red spectrum. Although novel technology partly counters this negative aspect, high-pressure sodium lamps are unbeatable when it comes to red colour rendering – an important aspect for optimal display of premium areas like fruit and vegetables, bread, meat and wine. Their major disadvantage: a relative low light efficiency.

Cooling and freezing
A trend in the field of cooling and freezing is the integration of refrigeration appliances into the overall store design. This opens possibilities to present a well-arranged market character and

Proper illumination in the cashier zone increases comfort for employees and customers.

create a more natural look. Retailers are also increasingly demanding darker colours in refrigeration cabinets to bring a warmer atmosphere to their stores. Apart from aesthetics, environmental design and sustainability of the cooling and freezing systems’ are also of major importance because this kind of equipment and air conditioning systems together may use up to 40 to 50per cent of the supermarket’s energy consumption. Energy saving design includes cabinets featuring glass doors. Supplier Hauser GmbH expects these will likely conquer dairy and meat departments in the coming years. A precondition is that they are designed in such a way that product visibility and product access is not impaired. Additionally, replacement of heat producing fluorescent lighting by energy-saving LED-illumination (see side bar) for special food applications in cooling and freezing cabinets will contribute to a further reduction of energy consumption.

Climate control
Energy management is vital to further improve energy efficiency of modern supermarkets. Hauser's latest product to cut electricity bills is an energy-saving system based on re-using thermal discharge from the refrigerated cabinets and heat from the ground. Deep electrodes transport the geothermics directly into the underfloor heating. This makes it possible, says the company, to heat a complete supermarket without additional heat input. Danfoss offers electronic systems for controlling refrigeration and utilities in a supermarket. These can typically reduce energy consumption by 30 per cent. The firm claims an attractive return on investment of one to three years. Implementation of Danfoss’ ADAP-KOOL integrates the individual components of temperature and climate control systems. This enables continuous optimisation and monitoring of store energy performance.

Fresh service

This new Bizerba scale features a customer-sided display and 12" colour screen to show images, short video clips or any other (promotional) information for cross merchandising.

Smart scales go beyond weighing and pricing, they are next generation fresh department managers. Novel technology now enables stores to optimise their fresh food assortment, manage stocks and provide customer with in-depth information about ingredients, culinary applications and product origin. Avery Berkel’s latest range of M and MP system scales combines batch level tracking of fresh food deliveries and sales data with the new GS1 Databar format, due to be introduced in 2010. This new standard has additional data-carrying capability so that counter scales can track and print extended pack information on each counter label. The POS system can then validate and process this information, helping to verify sell-by dates, improve stock rotation and hence reduce waste, compare profitability by supplier and even enable vendor-managed inventory. Bizerba’s newest scales series encompasses not only extensive commercial information on the meat, sausage, fruit and cheese product groups, details on origin and ingredients, but also provides recipe suggestions and extras such as presence of allergens, tips on healthy eating and recommendations for complementary products. Software takes care of automatic product recommendation on the customer display or, in case of single display models, ensures that a respective reference is provided. With this kind of technology support, fresh counter employees can fully concentrate on customers’ wishes and provide better and faster service.

Produce misting: the American way? Produce misting is a typical American thing. Core of the technology are strategically positioned units that mist over the product for just a few seconds at set, regular intervals. An ecologically-friendly solution, as energy and water consumption are low. According to Matt Shawcross, vice-president of Business Development at Miatech, a micro misting supplier, this humidifying technology is applied in more than 90 per cent of grocery stores in North America. It is used to keep vegetables fresh and juicy and to protect the quality of seafood stocked on ice tables in fish departments. Outside the US, penetration is not even two per cent. This low percentage could be due to unfamiliarity with the technology and bias. “Our Italian dealer has therefore been using a campaign called We Follow Nature when it comes to this product. Some feel it is not natural to mist, but in fact the opposite is true. Agriculture universities around the world agree this is the proper way to keep fresh produce. Mostly the greens and root based produce like radishes and carrots dehydrate quickly. This usually makes up one or two thirds of a retailer’s saleable produce.” Some retailers believe misting produce may cause Legionella infection. Not true, explains Shawcross: “Misting particles are larger than five microns. Even if the water is full of Legionella, it cannot be communicated without the particle sizes being reduced to five microns or less and breathed in. The reality is produce misting cannot do this and never has.” What are the primary assets to retailers? “You show fresher perishables than your competitor and produce keeps its weight. Without misting, it may on average lose about five per cent of its weight sitting on retailers displays. Reduces shrink by more than 50 per cent for the misted produce! With regard to seafood odour reduction, better temperature control and prevention of dehydration are strong points. Our dealers in Italy, Spain, claim success with applications.”

Beyond shelf efficiency
Efficiency by design is the big issue in shelving systems. Shop-fitting companies are increasingly retailer and customer focused. HL Display introduced a maintenance-free gravity feed system, called Roller Track. Beverages, dairy or other heavy products, are positioned on rolling elements at an angle of approximately five to ten degrees. Items automatically move to the (lowest) front position, once a consumer takes out a product. Retailers in France and Sweden claim they are selling more merchandise this way. Moreover, when the system is combined with dividers, it is easier for shelf packers to recognise out-of-stock situations. Another efficiency solution is EasyShelf. With this lock and release divider system changing the plan-o-gram is no longer a tedious or time-consuming exercise.
HL Display has also developed an infrastructure for low-voltage power supply in stores based on wires integrated in the data strip. This concept called Slimline Power is currently being tested with customers in Sweden. It consumes less wattage and allows for plugging in virtually anywhere, using a connector which is clicked on the power data strip. Typical applications are feeding of electronic labelling, in-store TV, moving media (screens), RFID readers, shelf light and alarm systems. Assmann Ladenbau offers system A30 for simplified handling. Some concept details are loose stuck-in elements in which all metal and wire components can be inserted and the bracket can be fixed to, or removed from, the shelf with only one click, making on-the-spot assembly easier.

Added value through self-scanning
Scanning technology can improve the level of service in a supermarket. State-of-the-art technology enables retailers to install reliable solutions that are monkey proof. Important with regard to kiosks is that they provide information of real value to customers. For example, a list of allergens, a featured recipe or a wine recommendation that appears on the monitor. The more personalised information is provided upon scanning a product, the more customer loyalty is created. Self checkouts also create added value. They offer consumers an alternative to queuing: one of the shopper’s greatest annoyances.  For many consumers using self checkouts is an entertaining DIY-exercise. Many supermarkets in Europe in particular, have rolled out (multiple) systems. NCR's self-checkouts enable shoppers to scan or weigh, pack and pay for goods themselves. For items sold by weight, the company’s FastLane self-checkout scanner is equipped with a built-in scale and simple look-up feature on the graphic touch-screen.
Research by NCR has shown that around 66 per cent of consumers want to use self-service checkout in order to scan their own purchases and pay for items themselves. The technology is now being deployed by retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Marks & Spencer in the UK; Superquinn in the Republic of Ireland; METRO Group in Germany; Auchan, Coop Italia and Bennet in Italy; the Casino Group in France and Al Campo in Spain. The research also revealed that shoppers want a range of self-service technologies to speed up the store experience and increase convenience. Some 56 per cent want to use kiosks to pre-order items such as delicatessen products and collect them later in the store. User friendliness is of vital importance when it comes to large-scale implementations of novel scanning technology. Pay By Touch is a frontrunner in this field and offers technology based on biometrics. Consumers may scan their fingerprint on a sensor when checking out.  Biometric scanning enables (single lane) payment, gives access to loyalty accounts, and can serve as a personalised marketing tool.

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Ready for the LED-revolution?
The long life, attractive light colour, low power consumption, minimal amount of heat released and absence of ultraviolet radiation make light-emitting diodes (LED) an attractive candidate for the illumination of heat-sensitive perishables such as food. Last year, the Migros supermarket in Eschenbach, Switzerland, started a LED-pilot. The store switched to 100 per cent LED lighting, including refrigerated compartments. Though traditional fluorescent light sources are generally considered energy efficient, these lighting systems do not perform well inside freezers. Cold temperatures decrease the light output of fluorescent lamps and, at the same time, reduce their operating life. LEDs are not plagued with the cold temperature problems affecting fluorescent light sources. This means lower energy and maintenance costs.
The pilot at Migros’ is a test case for the ecological superiority of the LED technology. The retailer expects a reduction of energy use of around 80 per cent, partly because low heat generation of LEDs saves air conditioning costs. Wal-Mart is also experimenting with LED. In its so-called green prototype stores in Plano (Texas) and Aurora (Colorado), tests are being run for freezers, display cases and other close-up applications. Lighting supplier Zumtobel is optimistic about the development to use LED in shelves or deep freezing areas. However, Ralf Knorrenschild, the company’s international key account director, is less enthusiastic about applications in the fresh meat section.

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Trolleys with brains

Wanzl's New RFID-trolley called Tango 160

Ordinary shopping trolleys can be transformed to highly intelligent carts, that feature scanning options or even on board-computers with a shopper searchable database. Wanzl Metallwarenfabrik GmbH has developed a special version of its plastic cart model with a network of RFID reading antennas which are integrated in the core of the basket. The antennas are linked to a microprocessor control unit. This miniature computer reads the RFID tags on the merchandise and produces a list with the tag codes of all purchases. The list is updated every second and sent to a ‘personal shopping assistant’ (PSA), integrated into the trolley handle. Via a wireless network the PSA, which can be operated from a colour LCD touch-screen, contacts the supermarket's central computer to add detailed information on the specific merchandise to products in the basket. Dr Rainer Eckert, director R & D at Wanzl Metallwarenfabrik GmbH: "This way trolleys become scanners. At leaving the shop there is no need to unpack the goods. Based on Wincor-Nixdorf's TPiSHOP software the shopper can go directly to a pay station, settle the bill and leave the store.” Another smart solution is Concierge, a wireless on-board computer from Springboard Retail Networks. Trolleys are mounted with a touch-screen device that serves as an easy product locator, information source, recipe browser and advertising medium. The solution also includes an integrated self checkout. The newest option is an ecological footprint calculator, which allows the average consumer to judge the sustainability of the products they purchase. To avoid theft of luxury carts, trolleys can be instructed to block their wheels when crossing a certain perimeter of the parking lot. SmartWheel is a solution of Gatekeeper Systems. This aggressive two-wheel locking solution prevents thieves from removing the stores trolley park beyond the retailer’s premises.

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