The Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Self Checkout System 7 solution is now available at the Supermarkets El Trébol chain in Chile, creating a new, more agile, and convenient shopping experience for consumers.
Supermarkets El Trébol, a family business, is the most recognized local supermarket chain in the country’s La Araucanía region. Its owners are committed to nurturing a strong relationship with shoppers through service and innovation, driving their collaboration with Toshiba and its partner Rhiscom, which is specialized in delivering services for the Retail industry in Latin America.
«Retailers in Chile must remain dynamic and flexible to adapt to customer shopping trends regarding technology, service, and store standards. Our consumers are sophisticated, and they have come to expect better service in terms of payments, automation, and self-checkout,» says Xavier Amar, Administration and Finance Manager, El Trébol. «Our chain of stores initially focused on small towns within our region. As we grew, we saw the need to improve our standards and quality because we were competing with larger more established supermarket chains. The new self-checkout system is now a standard and preferred option for our shoppers, and the response has been very positive.»
Toshiba’s Self Checkout System 7 units have improved service capacity across El Trébol’s stores, offering a fast and easy-to-use payment alternative for shoppers. The self-checkout system has improved wait times in light of recent labor shortages. Since the lanes are always open and available for use, it reduces long lines while facilitating physical distancing requirements during the pandemic. The store’s shoppers have been excited about the new solution and sales expectations are being exceeded.
In the meantime, El Trébol credits the recent upgrades in stores featuring self-checkout with an increase averaging more than 100 daily visitors in some stores and 25 percent of self-checkout usage, with some stores reaching 47 percent through self-checkouts.
El Trébol continues to implement the technology across its chain of 30 stores, with new openings planned in the Los Lagos region and prospects for future stores featuring a higher density of self-checkout lanes, or possibly all self-checkout lane stores.
«We are very pleased with the customer reaction and overall adoption of using our System 7, Self Checkout System in the El Trébol Stores,» says Bill Campbell, Senior Vice President Head of Global Sales at Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions. «Being one of the first, multi-store implementations of the Toshiba Self-Checkout System in Chile, the company leadership, its shoppers, and our Business Partner Rhiscom have quickly embraced the technology and are exceeding the original assumptions of their shoppers using the system. We look forward to expanding and growing with El Trébol as they continue to innovate, supporting regional consumer needs and expectations.»
Each market presents unique dynamics for implementing chain-wide technology upgrades, and Toshiba worked with its distributor partner Rhiscom to address challenges unique to the region. Regarding the implementation, Amar said: «Collaboration with our development company was essential for the integration. Our footprint includes remote towns requiring sound logistics,» continued Amar. «We felt supported by the Toshiba and Rhiscom team, who was always there to answer our call and troubleshoot with next-day or same-day support. We look forward to continued collaboration with Toshiba and Rhiscom to support the future of our stores.»