In light of newly emerging customer engagement technologies, brands across almost every industry are updating and modifying the way they do businesses. For Victoria Group, a leading Russian supermarket outlet, this meant partnering with NCR Corporation to integrate the software and hardware needed to offer shoppers a modern customer experience.
NCR, a worldwide leader in retail transaction systems, will soon begin to roll out self-checkout stations at Victoria’s flagship supermarket in Moscow. The new move is an effort to improve the customer experiences of shoppers looking for a quick and convenient way to complete their shopping in a busy environment, especially since the particular Victoria store first in line for the integration is located in a prime metropolitan area and in close proximity to a bustling train station.
Additionally, Victoria decided to deploy the new technology after research from an NCR commissioned global study showed that most people viewed this technology with highly positive perceptions. In fact, most Russians (85%) felt that merchants that integrated such self-service technology were also associated with a higher degree of customer service.
"According to research into lifestyles and preferences of regular Victoria customers, a quarter of them are ‘open to something new’ – they see purchases as a continuation of lifestyle, follow trends, have large families, and often entertain quests,” said Oleg Zhunikov, Victoria Division Director. “By installing self-service checkouts, we are not only offering our customers an additional service, but also involving them in the purchase process, allowing them to control it."
The newly integrated NCR technology will allow customers to purchase items using cash, debit, and credit cards. And because of the high levels of efficiency and convenience the new self-checkout stations will bring, Victoria believes that the customer engagement and overall store sales will increase as a result.
“Each self-checkout project around the world is unique,” said Andriy Pinkevych, Area Industry Leader for Retail at NCR Russia. “For this reason NCR takes a consultative approach and builds the business case for self-checkout together with its customers, by taking into account the neighborhood, average baskets, and product assortment and then assessing their technology requirements. Victoria has been a very engaged and committed partner who is realizing the benefits that our market leading self-checkout offers to their business and ultimately, their customers.”