Overview
7-Eleven is the world’s largest convenience store chain with more than 54,200 stores in 16 countries. With about 1300 stores in the Philippines, 7-Eleven, managed by the Philippine Seven Corporation, holds a market share of around 60%. The key to success for this corporation has been the focus on customers. The company always strives to provide the best service by offering quality, speed, selection and value.
The Challenge
7-Eleven uses a loyalty program called Every Day! Rewards to show its appreciation for customers’ patronage through direct marketing activities based on shopping preferences. With the growing use of mobile smart phones, 7-Eleven decided to create an app for the rewards program so members could receive special offers and discounts in digital format and present their phones at checkout to receive them. To implement this, the company needed a bar code imager that could read codes on mobile phones. The imager also had to be fast, allowing customers to get through checkout quickly. “We wanted to provide our customers with all possible options to make the shopping experience faster, easier and more convenient. We thought a solution using a bar code imager would be the best choice to enhance customer service,” mentioned Jason Jan Ngo, Head of IT Division of Philippine Seven Corporation.
The Solution
Datalogic’s partner AutoID Philippines Inc., worked with 7-Eleven on various scenarios to reach a solution for reading codes on mobile phones and speeding up checkout. After testing numerous products, the QuickScan™ Lite QW2100 linear imager provided the best performance on all types of mobile smart phones with different backlight settings, screen pixel resolutions and scanning angles. The small, lightweight QuickScan QW2100 linear imager with its ergonomic design was comfortable to use during daily operations, offering snappy reading performance and featuring a wide scanning angle with an extended scanning line, ideal for capturing longer and wider bar codes. It provided the critical link needed to connect the 7-Eleven Every Day! Rewards app to the POS.
In the past, a customer at 7-Eleven would have to present the loyalty card; then the products and any printed coupons were rung up. Now, with the QuickScan QW2100 solution, the customers go to checkout and present their mobile phones to the cashier. The cashier scans the items to be purchased and then scan the bar codes showing the discounts on the customers’ cell phones using the QuickScan QW2100 linear imager. The discount information and loyalty card number are registered at the same time, speeding up the checkout process. Customers not only get through checkout quickly, loyalty program members are rewarded for their continued patronage with special discounts on items chosen specifically for them.
The Results
The QuickScan QW2100 linear imager and the Every Day! Rewards loyalty app are the perfect match. Wait times have been significantly reduced and membership in the loyalty program has been reinforced with return visits by members. “The solution helps 7-Eleven create a strong relationship with our customers and information about their shopping habits allows us to create profile-based marketing campaigns. This system allows us to show our gratitude to 7-Eleven loyalty program members by providing them with special offers on products of real interest,” commented Jason Jan Ngo. The solution with the QuickScan QW2100 linear imager has been so successful, it has become the standard for 7-Eleven’s checkout system and will be used in the 500 more stores the company plans to open in the Philippines in the near future.
Customer: Philippine Seven Corporation (for 7-Eleven stores)
Industry: Retail/Specialty Retail
Application: POS
Country: The Philippines
Datalogic Product: QuickScan Lite QW2100 linear imager
Datalogic Partner: AutoID Philippines, Inc.
