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By Matt Pillar, Editor, Retail Solutions Online and Integrated Solutions For Retailers magazine

I read a WSJ article last week that left me scratching my head. A friend drew my attention to Carl Bialik's (The Numbers Guy) article, "Justice — Wait for It — on the Checkout Line." The story addressed growing frustration with supermarket wait times, and to his credit, Bialik sought insight from retail insiders Lee Holman (IHL group) and Jody Smith (Q-Matic). The article tackles the psychology of waiting, and it explores a few means of distracting shoppers from, or changing the environment of, the wait. The author ultimately settles on acceptance of a single-line system a-la banks and airport check-in counters; wait in queue for the next available teller.

To my chagrin, neither the author nor his interviewees presented technology as a feasible means of addressing the problem. Perhaps you saw Bialik's piece yourself and wondered out loud, as I did, "what about technology?"

Now, to be fair, I understand that the interviewee commentary that's included in an article is left to the editor's discretion, and perhaps Bialik even purposely avoided the tech discussion. It's with that understanding that I won't hold it against Holman that he wasn't quoted as saying, "retailers need to take another look at wireless handhelds for line busting," or "Self-checkout to the rescue." Given that his company is a global research and advisory firm for technologies deployed in the retail and hospitality industries, I'll assume he did.

The Technology Is Out There, And It's Proven
That said, how about it? Isn't there technology out there that can actually reduce wait times, as opposed to make them just as long but different, or perhaps a bit more pleasant? Motorola's Scott Moreland certainly says so. His company offers multifunctional wireless devices like the MC75 handheld with a mobile payment module, setting retailers up for POS line busting and mobile POS when things get a bit out of hand at the front end.

Guided Selling solutions leverage mobile devices to enable point-of-decision interactions with consumers while POS transactions are created from the sales floor. Not only does this reduce the checkout time at the front of the store, but it also creates a higher level of service by arming even junior sales associates with access to detailed product information and selling guides from anywhere in the store.

You may have seen coverage of Motorola's mobile self-service shopping solution at Stop & Shop and Giant Eagle. Based on Motorola's MC17 platform, the solution allows consumers to scan and bag their groceries as they move through the store. Throughout the shopping trip, targeted promotions and customized messages can be delivered at the shelf edge while enabling the consumer to see running totals and savings amounts. This technology could also be leveraged to alert the customer when their pharmacy order was ready or provide alerts based on nutritional or allergy data. The only front-end stop the customer has to make on the way out is to pay.

In Bialik's article, Holman aptly points out that by allowing buyers of a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread to breeze through the speedy checkout line, grocers are actually treating their worst customers the best at the POS. With mobile self-service, grocers can turn that perception on its ear. "The MC17 represents a unique opportunity to deliver self-service to the large basket customer. Besides just saving customers' time, it truly transforms the shopping experience by arming each and every customer with valuable information, alerts, and offers while they are still in your store and on the sales floor," says Moreland. This, coupled with payment efficiency (the average US wait time in grocery is in the 4-minute range. Contrast this with the seconds it takes to swipe a card and settle up), is customer care at its finest.

What do you think? What's the role of technology in efficiently managing checkout lines? Let me know at matt.pillar@ismretail.com.