In this review I wanted to find an innovative solution to services that are typically ‘self service’. The retail space has been using self checkout scanners in 1986 and haven’t gone anywhere since. According to the article ”over two-thirds” of customers have “experienced problems while using the technology” (Picoult, 2023). Uniqlo has taken these issues head on and have discovered a possible solution to the ailments that customers have griped about for years. I hope to find insight on the self service technology available, and how it may translate to the financial world.
In their quest to invent a better self-checkout terminal, Uniqlo focused on a key source of customer frustration: the effort required to scan every item (without triggering errors that would require flagging down a store employee). At Uniqlo’s self-checkout, there is no need to hunt for and scan the bar code on every purchased good. You just toss all the apparel you’re buying into the self-checkout machine’s container bin and, miraculously, all of your items are automatically scanned.
Behind this magical self-checkout experience lies a decidedly low-tech solution – radio frequency identification chips (RFID) that are embedded in every Uniqlo price tag. The self-checkout machine is equipped with an RFID reader that can – with remarkable accuracy – detect and record the price of all the goods tossed into the checkout bin. Compared to item-by-item scanning, this is an effortless experience. (Watch this video to see it for yourself.)
Seventy percent of Uniqlo’s customers (and up to 90% in some markets) choose to use the store’s self-checkout terminals. And rather than grouse about them, these customers love them. Indeed, these self-checkout machines have become a signature element of the Uniqlo store experience – finally fulfilling the decades-old promise of self-checkout by offering not just a better customer experience, but delivering it at a lower cost.”
This use of innovative technology allows Uniqlo to give a solely unique experience to customers, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the only option at Uniqlo stores. ”With most any new customer experience innovation (technology-enabled or not), the key is to earn adoption. The moment you start forcing customers down a certain path, it’s that much more likely that they’ll resist the change
Uniqlo’s new self-checkout experience isn’t just effortless, it’s downright magical. For anyone who’s not familiar with RFID technology, seeing the Uniqlo machines in operation can’t help but create a sense of surprise and mystery: How did that self-checkout terminal just scan all of my purchases?
Presuming a customer’s basic needs are being met, “how did they do that?” moments can create a peak in the experience that materially influences how people remember the encounter. (From a different industry, another example is how front desk staff at luxury hotels greet newly arriving guests by name. Trade secret: the bell person radios it to them in real time, after glancing at the traveler’s luggage tags.)
Technology, applied creatively, can trigger these surprising moments, as can the subtle capture of information that enables an unusual level of personalization. However it’s accomplished, injecting a little “magic and mystery” into the customer experience not only makes it more memorable, but it leads people to talk up the encounter with others (Picoult, 2023).
The wow factor of the new Uniqlo self checkout scanner is enough reason to draw inspiration to innovate, but what I found interesting was care that went into that decision. Uniqlo used emerging technology for the purpose of the customer, and to make their interactions in their store seamless. I also found it interesting how Picoult shifted focus for a moment to show how some other retail spaces are trying to solve the issues, but their solutions are coming short. They’re coming short because they don’t give autonomy to the customer, while also providing seamless interactions. I’m sure the new technology will have its hiccups from time to time but I believe that they have taken leaps to create a much better customer experience overall. Learning from Uniqlo’s new self checkout scanners how can design use new and emerging technologies to provide an easy and seamless experience for the customer?
Source
Picoult, J. (2023, December 21). A self-checkout that customers love? this company created it. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonpicoult/2023/12/21/a-self-checkout-that-customers-love–this-company-created-it/
