In Belgium, a single line checkout in a Cora supermarket

At Cora in La Louvière (Belgium), the checkout area of ​​the supermarket is divided into two zones: a single-line checkout area (10 checkouts) and a classic checkout area (4 checkouts). Self-service checkouts (SCO) complement each zone.

Management of the single-line checkout area was entrusted to our eZQ™ solution. The checkout manager, Mr. Thibaut Bourlée, discusses this installation in a testimonial:

“Several benefits were sought for the customer: greater fairness upon arrival at the checkout, guidance to the appropriate checkout without having to “look for the best one,” no rushed checkout closing, and ease of placing goods on the conveyor belt at the checkout.

Impacts on the checkout team: fairness upon customer arrival, no queue management, no pressure, greater focus on the customer being served, and easy checkout closing.

The best statistic is our weekly customer survey, in which Cora gained 1 satisfaction point: from around 7/10 to 8/10. This is an overall assessment of all checkouts, but we clearly saw a shift in customer feedback, which was rather reluctant at first, towards a favorable opinion of the single line.

In my opinion, the single line system is clearly positive in terms of checkout organization. It has a beneficial effect on orderliness. Creating a method is added value.

However, we are hesitant to impose it on all our customers. The four self-checkouts have always been quite popular.”

Thibaut Bourlée, Checkout Manager, Cora (Rue Franco-belge, 228 / 500 – 7100 La Louvière – Belgium)

Customers, evenly distributed among the checkouts, benefit from a smoother flow, avoiding overloading one checkout and leaving another with fewer people. This results in a better distribution of work and a shorter average wait time.

When there are problems at the checkout (price error, missing price, etc.), closing the checkout is easier: customers are called to other checkouts rather than having to wait in front of the closed checkout.