Tomorrow’s customers are looking for convenience and speed, so it is no surprise that the number of convenience stores is expected to expand. The pressure to run a successful business is enormous, and retailers are looking for new ways to save money and improve the bottom line. POS technology has evolved via the introduction of self-checkouts and multiple payment options, but the actual handling of coins and notes has been neglected. The cost of cash-handling remains a constant burden for the retailer, especially in Ireland, where cash is still a prominent payment method and the cash share of POS transactions is 78% [European Central Bank Survey, 2017].
Cash burning an operational hole in your pocket?
Where there is cash, there is a cost. Not only do businesses have to pay for time spent on counting, processing and transporting cash, they also lose substantial sums in discrepancies. One of the new technologies embraced by Irish retailers in 2017 that is helping them address this issue is the SMARTtill Intelligent Cash Drawer. The SMARTtill Solution® automatically reconciles the cash to sales made every time a customer is served. Handling the till is just one of many duties and responsibilities in the convenience sector, and it is an area in which pioneering cash-management technology can take away enormous pressure from the store owner. Irish petrol forecourt retailer Daybreak recently installed the SMARTtill Solution® in their store in Delvin, in Co. Westmeath. They aimed to address internal theft and the time and money associated with daily cash-up and general management of the float. After installation of the new intelligent cash drawers, not only have the cashier errors and discrepancies been eliminated, almost an hour of staff time has been saved daily and reinvested back into the store.
Employee cash shrink is history
When an employee is stealing, retailers tend to cut their losses. When larger sums are missing, going through hours of CCTV footage usually ends up with non-conclusive results, due to a lack of evidence or because of time pressure, where the business owner needs to focus on the customer instead. The good news is that Intelligent Cash Drawers are available today, and the loss-prevention headache could be over for retailers using this new technology. Station Master, Daybreak’s POS provider, introduced a very clever feature into their software that prompts and alerts the cashier if there is a discrepancy at the point of sale. This acts as a deterrent for internal theft and encourages best cash-handling practice. Capturing cashier discrepancies for each transaction in real time wouldn’t be possible without the unique capability of the SMARTtill Solution® technology.
Redeploy staff to what matters
Counting the float daily is often a necessary practice for a retail convenience store, but it is also time consuming. Even with a cashcounting machine, you must still remove the cash by each denomination, and when errors are involved, the time spent counting escalates, taking staff and managers away from other tasks. This creates bottlenecks that affect customer service and the bottom line. An independent Londis store, Griffin Retail Group, embraced the new SMARTtill Solution® technology and achieved an amazing 66% savings in labour on cash-management processes. Another unforeseen benefit that they experienced is that they no longer need to invest in cash-counting machines, which has all added to the bottom line.
APG Cash Drawer (www.cashdrawer.com)
© 2018 - Checkout Magazine by Maev Martin
