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FAQ: How It Works
1. What is LaneHawk?
LaneHawk is a visual scanner that recognizes items left on the bottom of the basket (BOB) and rings them up to the POS as part of the transaction.2. How does LaneHawk work?
LaneHawk is comprised of a self-contained, Intelligent Lighting and Camera Unit (iLCU) that is flush-mounted in each checkstand, and integrated with the store's POS system through a server in the store's server room. LaneHawk uses patented visual pattern recognition (ViPR®) technology to identify items on the BOB, and integration with the POS enables that item to be presented on the POS display for the cashier to include in the transaction.The real "magic" behind LaneHawk is its ability to present BOB items on the POS, and actually prevent the cashier from tendering out until the BOB items have been dealt with. This not only ensures that BOB items are paid for as part of the transaction, but it also drives real behavior change in cashiers because they must process the BOB items to complete the transaction. 3. What if LaneHawk can't see the barcode?
LaneHawk does not need to see the barcode. LaneHawk's technology "sees" patterns and features on the BOB item, which enables it to determine what the item is. It's a lot like reading the "fingerprint" of the item.4. What if an item is partially blocked?
LaneHawk can recognize items with as little as 10-20% of the item being visible.5. What if LaneHawk only catches some of the items?
In some cases, there may be so many items on the BOB, or some items may be blocked from view, such that LaneHawk does not recognize every single item. But in those cases, the cashier will: 1) be able to ring up the recognized items; and 2) be able to ask or visually verify whether additional items are on the BOB. Along those lines, we encourage all retailers to train cashiers to use LaneHawk as a reminder to have that dialogue with the customer. In addition, LaneHawk has an optional feature that allows the image LaneHawk processed to be displayed on the POS, which offers cashiers another means to visually inspect the BOB.6. What if a customer "hides" an item (like DVDs, razor blades, or magazines) on the BOB?
Just like the human eye, if an item is blocked 100%, LaneHawk will not be able to "see" the item and so will not recognize it. However, just like in cases where LaneHawk only catches some of the items, LaneHawk can still transact items it does recognize, and enable the cashier to ask the customer if any other items are present. LaneHawk provides a strong deterrent to all but the most determined shoplifters.7. How reliable is LaneHawk?
LaneHawk reduces BOB losses by more than 80%. A typical grocer loses about $10 per lane per day (0.1% of sales), and LaneHawk recovers about $8 of that.8. Won't LaneHawk slow down the transaction?
LaneHawk can actually speed up BOB transactions by reducing the number of items a cashier (or customer) needs to physically lift and scan, or the number of times a cashier needs to come around a lane to use a hand-held scanner.9. How does LaneHawk figure out what the item is?
LaneHawk matches the features it sees on an item against a database that contains the most common BOB items. If LaneHawk finds a match, then it sends a message to the POS controller to display the item for the cashier to review as part of the transaction.10. How big is the database?
Contrary to what you might think, we have found that for even large grocery retailers (with more than 50,000 SKUs), around 500 SKUs typically represent over 99% of the dollar value of items shoppers place on the BOB. The top 100 items represent over 80% of the dollar value. If an item is not in the database, our general item detector will alert the cashier that an "unknown item" is on the bottom of the basket.11. How do you figure out what items should be in the database?
Based on our extensive experience observing BOB items over more than a million transactions, Evolution Robotics Retail can provide you with guidance on the most common items. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of these items are in four categories: packaged beverages (such as soda pop, water, juice, beer, etc.); paper products (such as bulk paper towels and toilet paper); pet products (such as bagged or large-container pet food or litter); and household laundry items (such as detergent and bleach). We can work with you to determine the specific items — both national/regional brands and private-label items — that are the most likely BOB items for your chain. Again, nearly all of the dollar value of BOB items we see is captured by fewer than 500 SKUs, so many of these items are fairly predictable.In addition, as you continue to use LaneHawk, you will be able to access data about your BOB item movement that not only help to fine-tune the image database, but also provide insights into your merchandising and customer shopping behavior. 12. What happens if the item is not in the database?
Nothing. LaneHawk was purposely designed to only recognize items in the database — vs. legs, backpacks, purses, children, etc. — so that cashiers would not experience a high number of "false positives" that would cause them to find ways to avoid using LaneHawk. It is the old 80/20 rule (or in this case, the 99/1 rule); LaneHawk will catch 99% of the dollar value, and efforts to catch the remaining 1% would likely cause problems for cashiers.That being said, if a BOB item has similar packaging to items in the database (e.g., a new Coca-Cola product), LaneHawk will likely recognize that a Coca-Cola product is under the cart and should be scanned. 13. How much effort is required to maintain the database?
First, it is important to remember that there are only around 500 items in the database, and of those, around 100 typically make up over 80% of the dollar value. Since the top-moving items tend to be branded beverages, these also tend to be the items that change more frequently (for seasonal or promotional packaging, for example). So much of the updating effort will generally be concentrated on a relatively small number of items.Evolution Robotics Retail will manage the database updating process for you. All that we require is a designated person who will work with us for 1-2 hours per week to identify items that should be updated. There are basically three sources of updates: 1) packaging changes (due to seasonal promotions or "bonus pack" items, for example); 2) new UPCs (for example, new items, new packaging, regional changes); and 3) deleted or inactive items. We have found that these changes typically comprise 5-10 updates per month for a given banner or region.
More FAQs: Impact On Cashiers
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