Last year, Woodman's Food Markets stretched out of Wisconsin, for the first time, and into Illinois. Woodman's owner Phil Woodman referred to the opening of their 206,000 square foot Rockford, Illinois store as "inevitable". The inevitability of the food chain's entrance into the Illinois grocery market didn't guarantee the store would inevitably be successful. So the new grocery store was designed with all the amenities even the most finicky shopper can appreciate; fresh produce and meat departments, many grocery aisles offering a wide selection of foods, and 33 revolutionary checkout lanes designed to process transactions more quickly, conveniently, and personably.
Seven months later, Woodman's inaugural Illinois grocery store is now thriving. So much so that the food retailer is planning to remodel one of its eight Wisconsin locations to replicate the POS system design of their new Rockford store, and hopefully duplicate the success. The distinctive POS design, already employed at the Illinois location, consists of a shopper friendly "box & bag" style checkout where shoppers need only wheel their carts to the checkout where the groceries are unloaded, scanned, and packaged by Woodman's cashiers and baggers. The functionality of the design resides in the way the POS system is configured. The keyboard, receipt printer, and cash drawer are all located just above the scanner, so cashiers can maintain face-to-face contact with the customer. The end result is a faster transaction, a more secure POS system, and satisfied customers.
Woodman's Food Markets collaborated with Services, Inc. and APG Cash Drawer to create this highly efficient POS workstation. Services, Inc. developed the layout and managed the install, while APG designed and custom manufactured the cash drawer to be incorporated into the system. Now, they are all working together again to upgrade Woodman's Madison, Wisconsin store, remodelling the existing checkout lanes to 30 of the new, innovative POS systems.
"Our 20 years of experience in the POS business can be seen in the design of the Cashier Console," says Terry Demulling, General Manager, Services, Inc. "Our goal has always been to improve the Point Of Sale by listening to the needs of our customers. Due to the positioning of the cash drawer in front of the cashier over the scanner, we have put the cashier and customer face to face. This translates into friendly, practical service, and better security at the check stand. It is the solution that the industry has been waiting for many years! I believe that this solution has the potential to set a new standard in the POS industry. It is 'a positive new approach to the point of sale workstation!'"
"We're very excited to be a part of this revolution in POS," says Robert Daugs, APG Senior Product Manager. "One by one, the POS peripherals have found their way onto the check lane to speed transactions. First it was the scanner, then the keyboard, and now the cash drawer. The unique design of this drawer allows it to be positioned above the scanner while providing a surface for mounting the other peripheral devices. This removes all of the twisting for the clerk and allows them to stay in contact with the customer from start to finish of the order."
Daugs adds, "The Cash Drawer for the Cashier Console and the POS Podium is a bold new step in the evolution of the POS workstation. I believe we'll soon be seeing many retailers migrate toward this system."
