STORES Magazine - January 2008 - (Page 54)

NUTS AND BOLTS / POS Hands-Down Favorite Ruggedness, versatility of scanners sway Byrne Dairy BY MICHAEL HARTNETT ntil just a few months ago, cashiers at Byrne Dairy stores were still running their checkouts manually, often referring to price look-up sheets, checking sales circulars and ringing up each individual purchase by department. But that was before Byrne Dairy started rolling out its new scanners. U The company operates 58 stores in upstate New York offering a full line of groceries and beverages, along with hot and cold sandwiches and in-store coffee bars and ice cream shops — all of which generate heavy traffic from each store’s local customer base. “We decided to buy the scanners to stay “The scanners have competitive for our customers with speed made training easier and and accuracy in pricing,” says Melissa Burke, finance and IT manager for Sonshortened up the time, byrne Sales, the chain’s Syracuse-based and our customers love parent organization. “And the other side the quicker checkout.” of our decision was that we wanted to be competitive for employment. There were – Melissa Burke, Sonbyrne Sales times when our cashiers were looking up prices on four different sheets. The scanners have made training easier and shortened up the time, and our customers love the quicker checkout.” Approximately half the company’s locations are now using the Hand Held Product scanners, which began rolling out in August. In addition to faster checkout times for shoppers and a simplified process for cashiers, the scanners are being used to capture POS data to track trends in sales velocity on individual items. Burke indicates the company will expand its use of that data to track inventory and 54 STORES / JANUARY 2008 item-level receiving once the scanners have been installed in all of its stores and the company has adjusted to the new system. An additional function that Byrne Dairy will begin using this year will allow cashiers to check customers’ proof of age for beer and cigarette purchases. Burke says the company is very careful about requiring such I.D., and will soon have the ability to simply scan customers’ drivers’ licenses. The choice of Hand Held Products’ scanners was influenced by the technology, its ease of use and the fact that the vendor is local: its Skaneateles Falls headquarters is a short drive from Sonbyrne Sales. And the product demonstration provided by distribution sales manager Rick Kraetz made quite an impact, as well. “When Rick spiked one of the scanners into our concrete floors like it was a football, we knew it was the kind of product we wanted for our stores,” Burke says. “He spiked it, picked it up and spiked it again, and then he stood on it. When he first did it, I turned away and protected my eyes, but he picked it up [undamaged] and started scanning with it.” Although its client base runs the gamut from health care, transportation, warehousing and distribution to manuWWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - January 2008

STORES Magazine - January 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Build a 'Bot Sneak Peek at Fashion Trends What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Fishing for Talent Retail CEO Compensation Research Concept2Watch E-Commerce Payment Solutions Online Merchandising POS LPInformation LP Vantage Point Newsbeat Industry Watch Cover Story: Making LP PCI-Compliant Mall Security Video Surveillance Industry Perspective Forum RFID Business Intelligence Data Management Logistics Turning Green into Gold Love of – and for – the Outdoors Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - January 2008

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