NCR SelfServ Checkout Recognized for Design Excellence
The newest version of NCR SelfServ Checkout, the self-checkout solution from Duluth, Ga.-based NCR Corp., is among the 2009 winners of the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) competition.
The NCR SelfServ system, which earned a bronze award in the IDEA program’s Commercial and Industrial Products category, is the only self-service technology solution named in this year’s competition.
“This IDEA award is further testimony to NCR’s leadership and competitive advantage in self-service technology, built on our years of experience and extensive knowledge base, both of which are unmatched in the industry,” said NCR engineering and development VP Jeff Cegalis. “It reflects outstanding teamwork among talented and dedicated NCR employees in solutions management, hardware design, software design and human factors engineering.”
Created in 1980 by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), The IDEA program is an international competition honoring design excellence in products, eco-design, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts. The competition is sponsored by Autodesk, Target, and BusinessWeek magazine, which has reported on the program since 1990.
NCR SelfServ Checkout was developed to enable consumers to scan, bag and pay for goods on their own using cash, debit or credit, including the increasingly popular contactless payment cards. It incorporates a number of features designed to enhance customers’ shopping experience, while helping retailers maximize productivity, minimize costs and promote their store brand.
Among its features is a natural curve on the front of the unit that is designed to be inviting to shoppers, and a low profile that allows stores to better monitor service and consumer activity. Animated lead-though software and “follow-me” lighting at various points on the device were added to help provide a feeling of confidence to consumers, guiding them through each step of the checkout process.
The modular design of NCR SelfServ Checkout partitions the core scanning and tendering functions from the unloading and bagging functions, and helps provide built-in investment protection by enabling retailers to readily upgrade and modify the configuration after installation. Retailers can even select a specific color for NCR SelfServ Checkout to match their stores’ décor. The unit can be re-colored simply by replacing its outside cosmetic panels.
To help make payment transactions more user-friendly, cash inputs/outputs are arranged side by side, while an oversized bulk coin drop bowl allows consumers to pay with coins by the handful rather than one at a time. NCR SelfServ Checkout includes standard integrated coin recycling, as well as available integrated bill recycling. Recycling allows the cash and coins consumers insert during a purchase to later be issued as change, so retailers invest fewer resources in cash management and require less currency at the beginning of daily operation.
In addition, each unit is equipped with the NCR RealPOS high performance bi-optic scanner/scale, which was designed specifically to help make self-checkout scanning quicker and more user-friendly. An LED display on the top of the scanner provides intuitive visual feedback to the user, and is helpful for hearing-impaired individuals.
The system’s green features include the NCR RealPOS two-sided thermal receipt printer, which prints on both sides of receipts, reducing paper consumption by up to 40 percent, according to NCR. It also uses low-energy compact fluorescent bulbs in the lane lights.
The NCR SelfServ system, which earned a bronze award in the IDEA program’s Commercial and Industrial Products category, is the only self-service technology solution named in this year’s competition.
“This IDEA award is further testimony to NCR’s leadership and competitive advantage in self-service technology, built on our years of experience and extensive knowledge base, both of which are unmatched in the industry,” said NCR engineering and development VP Jeff Cegalis. “It reflects outstanding teamwork among talented and dedicated NCR employees in solutions management, hardware design, software design and human factors engineering.”
Created in 1980 by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), The IDEA program is an international competition honoring design excellence in products, eco-design, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts. The competition is sponsored by Autodesk, Target, and BusinessWeek magazine, which has reported on the program since 1990.
NCR SelfServ Checkout was developed to enable consumers to scan, bag and pay for goods on their own using cash, debit or credit, including the increasingly popular contactless payment cards. It incorporates a number of features designed to enhance customers’ shopping experience, while helping retailers maximize productivity, minimize costs and promote their store brand.
Among its features is a natural curve on the front of the unit that is designed to be inviting to shoppers, and a low profile that allows stores to better monitor service and consumer activity. Animated lead-though software and “follow-me” lighting at various points on the device were added to help provide a feeling of confidence to consumers, guiding them through each step of the checkout process.
The modular design of NCR SelfServ Checkout partitions the core scanning and tendering functions from the unloading and bagging functions, and helps provide built-in investment protection by enabling retailers to readily upgrade and modify the configuration after installation. Retailers can even select a specific color for NCR SelfServ Checkout to match their stores’ décor. The unit can be re-colored simply by replacing its outside cosmetic panels.
To help make payment transactions more user-friendly, cash inputs/outputs are arranged side by side, while an oversized bulk coin drop bowl allows consumers to pay with coins by the handful rather than one at a time. NCR SelfServ Checkout includes standard integrated coin recycling, as well as available integrated bill recycling. Recycling allows the cash and coins consumers insert during a purchase to later be issued as change, so retailers invest fewer resources in cash management and require less currency at the beginning of daily operation.
In addition, each unit is equipped with the NCR RealPOS high performance bi-optic scanner/scale, which was designed specifically to help make self-checkout scanning quicker and more user-friendly. An LED display on the top of the scanner provides intuitive visual feedback to the user, and is helpful for hearing-impaired individuals.
The system’s green features include the NCR RealPOS two-sided thermal receipt printer, which prints on both sides of receipts, reducing paper consumption by up to 40 percent, according to NCR. It also uses low-energy compact fluorescent bulbs in the lane lights.