The Swedish Reitan Servicehandel which is part of the Reitan Group has opted to install Wincor Nixdorf's cash management solution iCASH at six of its 7-Eleven stores in order to automate in-store cash processes.
System rollout will begin in autumn 2006. After several pilot installations, this contract represents Wincor Nixdorf's first order in the retail cash management area.
Since April, the Reitan Group has been using two of its 7-Eleven stores in Stockholm to test how modern automation technology can be used to optimize cash processes.
Wincor Nixdorf provided its iCASH solution for the pilot project. The delivery comprises the coin module iCASH/15, the banknote module iCASH/50 and the iCASH software. The project's objective is to use this cash management solution to automate cash handling processes, reduce inventory discrepancies and increase in-store security.
In adopting this solution, the Reitan Group is following the recommendations of the Swedish National Board of Occupational Safety, which has called for increased security in stores situated in hazardous locations and those offering extended hours of business. The board had demanded that cash be dealt with in closed cycles with notices posted to the effect that employees were not able to access any cash. These recommendations were made as a response to Sweden's increasing number of robberies.
The coin module iCASH/15 and the banknote module iCASH/50 are integrated into the staff side of the counter and are both operated by the POS personnel. Both modules are recycling units, which means that cash previously paid in can subsequently be used to give change. This makes it possible to optimize the intervals at which the cash on hand needs to be replenished or picked up. POS personnel no longer need to handle any cash except when conducting an actual sale: banknotes are stored in a safe that can be opened only by CiT operatives.
The modules are controlled by the specially-developed iCASH software, with an interface provided to integrate the cash management systems into the POS software.
The closed and automated cash cycle excludes the possibility of employees making careless mistakes, for instance when giving change, and makes deliberate pilfering equally impossible. But the system's primary benefit is the reduction in costs due to process automation – not only for those processes exclusive to POS stations but also for POS handovers and the final cash audit.
As Lothar Wolf, Marketing Manager of the Retail Cash Management Division says, "Cash processes, from the POS station through the cash office right down to the CiT operatives' pick-up and replenishment operations, offer considerable potential for increasing productivity. Our products, which range from process consulting to outsourcing companies' entire cash handling activities, enable us to offer retail enterprises a modular solution portfolio for the entire process chain – from the POS to the bank."