Improving the Self-Checkout Kiosk, One Phase at a Time

When software hands you lemons, you make dashboards. That’s exactly what the point-of-sale team did when their original plan for self-checkout (SCO) kiosks hit a snag.

Before the success of the Keesler Air Force Base Exchange self-checkout dashboard, there were plenty of sour moments. Led by Chief of Point-of-Sale Dr. Lisa Comstock, the team initially planned to partner with a third-party software developer. But when that partnership fell through, Chief Information Officer/EVP Chad Lucas encouraged the team to press forward using internal resources, minimizing shopper pain points and enhancing the experience for those who serve.

Comstock channeled the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt, saying, “Sometimes you have to do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.” With three phases ahead and no vendor in sight, the team rolled up their sleeves and got to work beginning with phase one, pivoting to phase three and finalizing the updates with phase two in 2026.

The first phase aimed to be fast and straightforward. But when test machines arrived at the HQ lab, the new vendor’s software wouldn’t load onto the new hardware. Enter Michael Hoehne, point-of-sale development lead, who braved a brutal Texas snowstorm in January 2022 to personally install the existing software laying the groundwork for the system that’s in place today.

Despite an initial estimate of 30% shopper utilization by the third-party vendor in 2021, Exchange customers blew past expectations, exceeding projections by 166%. “The vendor’s estimates were based on intricate industry trend calculations,” said Comstock. “In tandem with FA, those numbers helped us plan self-checkout placement.”

Phase two focuses on boosting technical capabilities such as remote monitoring of the self-checkouts. This phase allows a single associate to manage multiple kiosks remotely to assist shoppers at the self-checkout kiosk.

The third phase, which is going on now, is helping processes business add-ons on like AppleCare,  gift card purchases and coupon acceptance.

Originally, AppleCare purchase requirements were rigid. Shoppers could either complete or cancel their transaction depending on whether they wanted AppleCare. If a shopper did not want to purchase AppleCare, the register froze and blocked all communication with Apple requiring the transaction to be continued on another register with an associate. This was a nightmare on high-traffic registers. Now, AppleCare auto-registers at the point of purchase, eliminating the need for associate intervention and keeping transactions flowing smoothly, even at self-checkout.

For years, shoppers couldn’t use a gift card to buy another gift card, which is part of an Exchange Anti-Money Laundering Compliance plan that was only enforced through cashier training. After a two-year code freeze, the team prioritized a fix that would allow shoppers to purchase gift cards at self-checkout using standard payment methods, without compromising compliance rules. The capability soft-launched on June 10 during the Dads & Grads sale, with 15% of gift card purchases happening at self-checkout. By the end of the month, usage hit 35%, making it one of the most requested features on the self-checkout dashboard.

Coupons posed a different challenge. Self-checkouts couldn’t validate eligibility or expiration dates, so both Exchange and vendor coupons were blocked. Now, a new test at three JBSA-Lackland BX sites will use scannable discount codes for Exchange coupons. For vendor coupons, the team is working with a Procter & Gamble partner to automate item eligibility by building on successful tests from earlier in the year.

These upgrades mark a major step toward faster, more seamless checkout.

“When the original plan fell through, we had a choice to either wait for perfect conditions or get creative with what we had. The point-of-sale team chose the latter, and the results speak for themselves,” Lucas said. “The journey wasn’t easy, but the dashboards, automation and shopper experience improvements we’ve delivered prove the juice was absolutely worth the squeeze.”