Electronic payment methods are becoming more and more important, also in pharmacies. New techniques such as “contactless”, “ApplePay” & Co. are lowering the inhibition threshold to use the card for small (very small) amounts. After a successful rollout at Ikea, Edeka and other consumer goods temples, self-service checkouts are largely accepted. The clientele is the same and the desire for a good shopping experience is universal.

We enjoy the quick check-out process at the self-service checkout at Edeka, when just before closing time we quickly buy a bottle of wine, cheese and a few olives to spend the evening with the family on the terrace. Just scan in, have the card ready and off we go home. Many people would like to see this efficiency in the pharmacy with the Eucerin sun protection product and the Caudalie anti-aging product under their arm. Why one is advised on the sales floor and then has to queue up at an HV table remains an unsolved ritual from the past for many customers. Can’t you do that without a queue?

It is often interpreted that self-checkout would undermine the advisory service in the pharmacy and therefore cannot be used according to pharmacy operating regulations. This is not correct. Self-service checkouts only cover the payment process, possibly with customer card capture. Product advice is provided in advance by pharmacy staff. This must also be the case in order to further emphasize the quality of the pharmacy and to complement the customer experience with a modern self-checkout. Self-checkout helps to sustainably increase the size of the shopping basket and the number of customers who choose the free choice, and to lose fewer customers who choose the free choice because of waiting time at the AGM table. In medium-sized to large pharmacies, self-checkout therefore pays for itself after just 18 months.

Dirk Bockelmann is the author of this article and has been involved in global sales development, portfolio expansion and product ownership for BD Rowa Self-Checkout at BD Rowa since 2014. Dirk has been instrumental in shaping BD Rowa’s success story and is committed to bringing innovative retail issues to the BD Rowa solution portfolio for pharmacies.