Coop Switzerland Elevates Customer Experience with Zebra PS20 Devices
Coop Switzerland is a prominent retailer with a history dating back to 1844. It operates more than 2,400 outlets across the country, including supermarkets, megastores and smaller department stores. The company is committed to providing a comprehensive shopping experience, both in-store and online.
Zebra Success Story: Coop Switzerland
Overview: Retail Challenge
Coop Switzerland wanted to optimize the shopping experience by providing a new, efficient way for customers to shop. It needed robust, user-friendly scan-as-you-go devices that could support custom-built software, streamline the self-checkout process and meet modern shopper expectations.
Benefits / Outcomes
- Increased basket size for those using the new solution
- Increased shopper satisfaction
- Insights into customer behavior to inform future decision-making around store layout and promotions
About Coop Switzerland
The Coop is a co-operative with companies from the grocery retail, wholesale and production sectors. Much has changed since Coop started in 1844, but the group has since established a Europe-wide presence and diversified into providing numerous offerings, one being retail. Its presence in Switzerland is a perfect example of its proliferation.
In Switzerland alone there are 2,425 Coop stores. In fact, Coop stores cover a sales area of over 2.1 million m2 in total in Switzerland, which includes supermarkets, megastores and smaller department stores in customer friendly locations. The retail branch digs even deeper into the fabric of Swiss life, offering all customers what they need when they need it. And if in-store visits aren’t possible, Coop’s user-friendly online store closes the gap.
Relentlessly committed to the customer experience, Coop in Switzerland sought to optimise the way customers shop in its sales points. This dedication to customers was first observed all the way back at the tail-end of the ‘90s, when Coop was one of the first in Switzerland to introduce a scanning at cash registers in select sales points. Since 2005 self-scanning with Passabene has been used across the board.
In 2020, Coop in Switzerland began migrating to Zebra PS20 Personal Shopper devices. Prior to this, the previous generations of Zebra’s MC17 and MC18 mobile self-scanning solutions were already in use at Coop. They were provided by Zetes, an international technology company specialising in supply chain solutions and also a Premium Solution Partner of Zebra Technologies. The aim of this step was to offer an optimised customer experience when shopping.
The migration was completed in mid-2021. By the end of 2023, the self-scanning revolution was in full swing with the PS20 rollout in over 840 sales points. This corresponds to about 90% of all Coop supermarkets in Switzerland. “The solution we had before Zebra was no longer what we needed it to be,” says Pascal Dambach, Head of IT Processes Merchandise Management Sales. “As a retailer and organization, we were becoming increasingly tech-driven, as evidenced by Passabene. By migrating the Zebra hardware, we have also harmonised the software running on it with the software solutions in the POS area. We have also made the same software available as a mobile app so that customers can easily make their purchases using their smartphone.”
The Challenge
Coop knew it needed to upgrade its hardware and software to support modern buyer journeys and satisfy heightened shopper expectations. Ultimately, it needed to revamp its self-scanning offering. “We needed modern devices for a modern shopper,” explains Dambach. “We needed a selection of devices that were robust, appeal to customers and easy to use.” A large display with high resolution and a precise, fast scanner that reliably recognizes any barcodes even from an angle or a distance, were other important requirements.
The software was imperative too. “For Coop, the software plays a central role in ensuring that the customer experience is identical at every touchpoint,” Dambach explains. “Devices need to be able to scan different goods accurately and quickly, like six-packs of water, fresh produce and durable goods. The speed and versatility with which the items are being scanned, recognized and processed, is important and valued both by the shoppers and of course, us at Coop.”
We needed modern devices for a modern shopper. We needed a selection of devices that were robust, appeal to customers and easy to use.
The Solution
For these reasons, Coop opted for the PS20 personal shoppers mentioned previously, and made sure they were able to run the Passabene software. Zetes AutoID Systems has a long-standing partnership with Coop. The company advises on the selection of suitable hardware and provides a wide range of services, including hardware maintenance, commissioning, hotline service and installation.
Zebra and Zetes offer strong lifecycle support post deployment. Over 30,000 devices are currently in use, and the Zetes and Zebra support covers the entire life cycle of the hardware. To prevent downtime, Zetes provides an ongoing monitoring system.
In the event of unexpected hardware interruptions, devices can be swapped in from a pool of Zetes managed spare devices. Coop’s devices are also backed by a Zebra OneCare™ Essential maintenance plan which offers coverage for normal wear and tear and accidental damage. It also offers technical and software support and LifeGuard™ for Android™ security protection for each device.
The Zebra Difference: Outcome and Benefits
Both qualitative and quantitative benchmarks are used to measure customer satisfaction. Customer feedback, which is recorded in the form of customer surveys and direct feedback, is an important indicator of perceived satisfaction. Sales figures, device usage and purchase volumes are also measured. The results are overwhelmingly positive.
“Customers are loving the new ways to shop,” says Dambach. “Whether that’s using the Passabene app on the phone or Zebra PS20 devices in the store, the results are remarkable.” In fact, the shopping basket for Passabene customers is on average 3.5 times more than the basket of a traditional shopper.
“Our primary goal is to optimize the customer experience in our stores,” concludes Dambach. “For now, we’re going to take learnings from the system and continue to optimise the customer journey, putting the hardware and software to focus on the customer and their experience.”
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