Understanding Self-Service Technologies; As stated in the early marketing literature, vending machines were the first self-service technologies (SSTs) to be used in grocery stores. Customers using self-service in the 1980s reported the use of SST as automated teller machines (ATMs) and pay-at-the-pump. Initial research of (Dabholkar, 1994) defined the self-service customer-technology interaction as, technology-based self-service (TBSS). Whereas Other research described the term SSTs, as a technology interface, that allows (or force) the shoppers to serve themselves independently without the help and direct involvement of service firm’s employees.
Various authors have defined SSTs in different ways, but the most crucial factor is that the use of these technologies has changed the dimension of business globally. According to (C. Wang, 2017), SSTs allow consumers to produce services independently without the assistance of frontline employees. Implementation of the technological artefact enables the individual customer in providing services independently avoiding direct interaction with the service providers.
Application of SSTs are quite familiar in the retail sector because customers in the supermarkets can select products, they require, but there is mostly the cashier-checkout system which consumes the time. Therefore, customers prefer SSTs to make the entire procedure of purchasing convenient and time-efficient in the supermarkets. The fundamental purpose of SSTs is that a self-service technology allows the customers to meet their needs individually without wasting extra time. Implementation of SSTs in supermarkets allows shoppers to skip the waiting queues; they can scan and pay for groceries even without store employee interactions. Research undertaken in one of Italy’s supermarket chains, SSTs has a 70 per cent decrease in waiting time spent online relative to traditional checkouts. Even grocery stores, promote SSTs as time-saving for a shorter queue time at the checkout.
At the same time, it also helps the customers to control the system as well as receive the support that was necessary during shopping. The application of SSTs is also suitable for organizations as they ensure an increase in customer satisfaction and convenience. Customers become satisfied because they always want to resolve their problems promptly and receive fast solutions to their shopping challenges, which are supported by SST.
Type of SSTs
Three primary types of SSTs identified by (Beck, 2018) consists of fixed, Scan, and Go and Mobile Scan and Go. Firstly, fixed self-checkout technology (SCO) are those, were the customers scan the products at a designated machine using interactive screens and can pay for their selected products either with cash or using the payment card. The second type of SCO is Scan and Go those where the consumer is provided with a scan gun by the service provider to scan the product barcodes, and at fixed point terminal process the payment transactions. Third SCO is a mobile self-checkout application, also known as mobile Scan and Go where the consumer uses their mobile device to scan items.
Nowadays, in-store smart technologies SSTs, such as virtual screens, digital signage, interactive fitting rooms, self-service kiosks, and QR codes, are widely accepted by customers. Other SSTs, used by customers through mobile applications in retail stores environment are virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled smart mirrors.
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