Giant Grocery Store's New ScanIt System Makes Shopping Fun & Easy

The other day, I went into my local Giant Food Store in Maryland as I usually do to complete my grocery shopping, and I was surprised to see a rack full of handheld scanners near the front door. Apparently, my Giant had installed the new ScanIt grocery shopping system that allows shoppers to ring up their grocery order as they go along using special handheld scanners which are linked to the store's central computer system. Intrigued, I decided I would give the new system a try. I entered my home phone number so the system could find my Giant Bonus Card, and after agreeing to some standard terms and conditions, one of the scanners lit up indicating that it was unlocked and ready for me to take.

I grabbed the scanner and some bags as instructed, and I was off. I went through the grocery store as I normally would, only this time I scanned each item I took off the shelf with my special ScanIt handheld scanner. As soon as I scanned an item, the price showed up on the screen of the scanner and it was added to my running total which was also prominently displayed on the screen. I can't tell you how helpful it is to have a running total as you go through the store, especially when you are trying to stick to a budget!

In the produce section, special scales printed out bar-coded labels which I could then scan with my scanner. And in the bakery each bin had a barcode on it, so if I wanted to buy bulk buns or cookies, the ScanIt system could accommodate that to. After scanning an item, I could place it directly in a bag, eliminating the need for groceries to be bagged at the checkout and letting me pack up my items the way I wanted them. When I was done shopping, the ScanIt system informed me that I could proceed to any checkout counter, so I chose one of the self checkout lanes.

When I arrived at the self checkout kiosk, I scanned a barcode on the sign to tell the ScanIt scanner that I was done shopping. Then, I just had to type in the same phone number that I used to obtain the scanner, and magically all the items I had scanned appeared on the screen. Once my order transferred, I left my ScanIt scanner in a cradle at the checkout and paid with my credit card as I normally would. It was super easy.

I would highly recommend that customers of Giant Food Stores try out their new ScanIt system. It is quick, convenient, and free-and it can really cut down on the total amount of time of your shopping trip. The ScanIt system is installed in a handful of Giant Stores at the moment, but the company plans to roll out the system to over 100 stores in the next 2 years.