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Introverted Swiss Grocery Shopping

A few months ago, I finally gave in and applied for a Supercard and a Cumulus card -- the loyalty cards for Coop and Migros, respectively. The process was a bit more onerous than in the US. I had to apply online, then I received the cards in the mail, but the cards couldn't actually be used until I confirmed them again online. This is to ensure that I have both the cards and the online account information -- a sort of one-time 2-factor authentication.

With the cards, I was able to drastically change the way that I shop. Now, when I go to the grocery store, this is the shopping process:
  1. When I walk in the door, I stop at a kiosk where I scan my card (or a picture of my card on my phone), and it unlocks a handheld barcode scanner. I could also skip this step and scan groceries with an app on my phone, but my phone is a lot slower because the camera takes a while to focus on the UPC.
  2. When I want to buy something, I scan it with the barcode scanner then put it into my reusable grocery bags or my old lady cart. The scanner (or the app) shows me what I scanned with a running total and a way to remove items if I want to put them back on the shelf.
  3. When I'm finished shopping, I go to the self checkout register and scan a special "I'm finished" barcode on the front of the register. That causes the barcode scanner to send a list of my purchases to the register. The register shows me the total and prompts me to return the scanner to a receptacle above the register.
  4. Occasionally, (I've only had it happen once so far) the register summons a person to check my order. The cashier just grabs a few different items from my bag and scans them to verify that they match what I told the store I bought. The register walks the cashier through the process ("Scan _3_ more items to verify purchases")
  5. I pay for my groceries. Usually I use Twint on my phone, but I can also use a credit card or use my store account for this.

There's no scanning or bagging at the register, so it's fast. The payment process only takes a few seconds. Most of the time, I don't have to talk to another human being. It's not quite the "just walk out" process that Amazon Go is promising, but it's pretty darned close. 

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