West Midlands launch high tech store

A NEW West Midlands Co-op supermarket is set to join the technology super-highway when it opens later this month, with self-scanning checkouts and digital pricing displays. The 10,000...

A NEW West Midlands Co-op supermarket is set to join the technology super-highway when it opens later this month, with self-scanning checkouts and digital pricing displays.

The 10,000 sq ft store in Bicton Heath, Shrewsbury, represents a &#163 1 million investment and has created more than 50 new jobs.

Four U-Scan checkouts will use the latest shopping technology to process goods without customers needing to queue for a checkout assistant. Payment can then be made by card or cash using a self-service machine, with supervisors on hand for assistance at all times.

Digital price displays on the shelves ? known as ILIDs ? will also feature in the store, controlled by radio frequency signals in the lighting system. Plasma screens for promotional offers and touch-screen customer feedback will add to the innovative environment.

Roy Frodsham, General Manager of West Midlands Co-op&#039s Food division, said: `This new supermarket is a very exciting project for our society and uses the latest technology to make shopping easier and quicker for customers.

`U-Scan is expected to be used by customers with fewer items, but trolleys can also be used at these checkouts. It allows more flexibility to meet the growing popularity of self-service retailing.`

Clive Bosel will manage the store, having spent the past two years at the Co-op supermarket in Buckley, near Chester. He has managed stores across the Co-op Group for the past 25 years.

Bicton Heath is the first phase of a &#163 1 million investment to install new tills across all West Midlands Society&#039s other 14 supermarkets and 20 convenience stores.

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