Thursday, May 12, 2011

Technology Redlining in Retail


When Giant introduced the self service “Scan It” program a little over two years ago I took to it like a duck to water. Prior to this technological advancement in grocery shopping Giant was not one of my preferred grocery stores.

Now I seek them out. 

This past weekend, when I happened to drop by one their other HoCo stores instead of my regular store, I learned that not all Giants are techno friendly . I immediately looked around for the Scan It terminal after walking in the door.

“We don’t have them here,” a manager informed me after asking what I was looking for. He went on to explain that because of the high incidence of theft in that particular store, they were unlikely to get them anytime in the future either.

Though the Scan It system does include random audits, it is largely dependent on shoppers being honest about what they put in their bags. Apparently that doesn't work well across the board.

It appears we now have technology redlining in retail. 
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