Standing in line is always a pain. And checkout lines at popular chain stores can seem endless.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) is working to change that.
The home supply chain told Fast Company that it is introducing new technology to reduce the time customers spend at its registers. The retailer has installed four new checkout options in each of its 2,253 stores nationwide.
The move is a hit with retail analysts, who told Fast Company that anything a store can do to improve the customer experience will prevent consumers from going elsewhere.
Here are four new ways to pay at Home Depot:
- Handheld credit card scanners: Home Depot sales clerks carry mobile devices called First Phones that permit them to tally a customer’s bill and process a credit card payment without going anywhere near a register.
- Scanning Items While in Line: Since not all scanners will be able to process credit cards, an alternative is to have store employees scan the items in customers’ carts while they wait in checkout lines. When the customer arrives at the register, the bill is already calculated and all that needs to happen is payment.
- PayPal Arrives: Once confined to eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), PayPal is moving from the Internet into the real world. Home Depot cash registers can now process payments via methods linked to your PayPal account.
- Faster Self-Checkout: Already a pioneer in self-checkout technology, Home Depot is unveiling new machines that increase the speed with which transactions are processed and customers can leave the store.
To see how retail analysts responded to each of these new checkout options, read the full Fast Company article here.
