英闻天下——453 US Cash Register to Help Avoid Long Checkout Queues

 　　There's a silent revolution taking place in today's shops as the cash registers which have been ringing up sales for over a century are being replaced by mobile handheld devices. In the US, shop assistants roam the stores with their personal devices so customers can avoid the checkout¹ queues and pay on the spot.

 

　　Zhang Wan² takes a closer look.

 

　　The cash register which has been ringing up sales in our stores for over a century may soon be a thing of the past. An increasing number of retailers⁴ are handing out mobile devices to their sales assistants. The system enables customers to pay assistants wherever they find them, avoiding the need for long checkout queues.

 

　　The assistants can also carry out other tasks as well as taking payments. As part of his plan to transform the US department store chain J.C. Penney, Chief Executive Ron Johnson, the mastermind behind the Apple stores, aims to get rid of most of the chain's cash registers over the next few years.

 

　　He started distributing iPod Touch devices to sales staff at the end of 2012 and the plan is to have small service counters where customers can pay by cash or resolve other issues.

 

　　At department stores, it is estimated that as many as 15 percent of shoppers walk out of a store because they don't want to queue up to pay. So far, shoppers seem to like the convenience.

 

　　"I think it's great it makes check out a lot quicker, and I'm on my lunch break from work, so the faster the better."

 

　　"I mean it's definitely a tool to get people to buy things a lot quicker. Like if I see for example a skirt that I like or a dress that I like I can easily try it on, take it off, buy it and I'll be good to go."

 

　　But there is some concern amongst retailers that the new system could also put off shoppers who like to pay at the counter where the barrier makes them feel anonymous⁵.

 

　　It also means shoppers have to be re-educated about how to pay, stores have to be redesigned when cash registers are removed and it forces retailers to rethink the age-old merchandising trick of where to place impulse items, traditionally placed at the cash registers.

 

　　Joe Cardamone, manager of Penney's Manhattan store says that further down the road, the mobile devices will be able to take care of everything.

 

　　"I think as you see it right now these big terminals are going to be gone. You really won't see them anymore we're going to be able to now use the space for our new shops coming in. So it'll be, we'll be able to enhance that part of the experience for the consumer too as we move forward because these take up a lot of space. It opens up the store a lot more too."

 

　　Stores have to replace their cash registers every eight years, spending millions of dollars. Retail³ strategists Kurt Salmon⁶ estimates that based on a chain of 20 stores with two registers per store, it would cost 100,000 US dollars to roll out iPad devices, half of the costs of using traditional cash registers. iPads with accessories like card readers costs1,500 US dollars each, compared with 4,000 US dollars per cash register.

 

　　Al Sambar, Retail Strategist at the management and strategy consulting company Kurt Salmon says the ultimate aim is to improve revenue but also to enhance the customer experience.

 

　　"Well from a financial perspective ultimately the goal is to raise revenue and conversion⁷ in that square footage but I do that by improving my customer experience can I let this customer shop me in a richer way? Can I allow them access to more of my assortment⁸ than I can offer in just the physical square footage that I have? So ultimately that drives a financial performance. It allows me to drive more revenue and through better recommendations on these devices even better margin⁹ performance on the product moving through that square footage."

 

　　The introduction of the new devices comes as retailers grapple with the increasing demands of shoppers who are buying and researching on their mobile devices and expect a similar speedy experience in the stores.

 

　　For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.

1 checkout   

n.（超市等）收银台，付款处

参考例句：

• Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
• A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。

2 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

5 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

6 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

7 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

8 assortment   

n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集

参考例句：

• This shop has a good assortment of goods to choose from.该店各色货物俱全，任君选择。
• She was wearing an odd assortment of clothes.她穿着奇装异服。

9 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。