Big Interactive POS In Grocery Aisle Takes Place Of Merchandised Items, Because Goods Are Locked Up Elsewhere

April 14, 2025 by Dave Haynes

I was surprised, when stumbling across a retail trade publication story about in-store screens, that a touchscreen-embedded point of sale print piece was taking up such a big chunk of prime merchandising space on a grocery shelf … until I read on and learned it was all about reducing theft on high-value goods.

The British retailer Morrisons, The Grocer is reporting, is running a trial at a store in the Manchester area that involves a POS piece with an interactive screen and dedicated printer that markets smoking cessation products. Instead of frustrating shoppers and sending store staff running around with keys open locked displays, shoppers choose what they want, take a printed slip to check-out, and then take a different receipt to a locked-down dispensary machine at the front of the store, that also has a screen.

That maybe sounds complicated, but the drill is kind of similar to a parking ticket machine that does payment and gives motorists a receipt that opens an exit gate.

So visual merchandising space in-aisle is not really being consumed because the inventory is stored elsewhere. More conventionally, one of the reasons retailers like LCD and fine-pitch LED ribbon strips that line shelfs or sit atop displays is that they get marketing messages out, but not by taking up shelf space for product.

Shrinkage (theft) has developed into a huge issue for some retailers, and you may well have walked into the health and beauty section of a drug store chain and been unable to pick up things like razors for shaving because they are now locked up. Back in December, the US National Retail Federation reported that retailers had seen a 93% increase in the average number of shoplifting incidents per year in 2023, versus 2019, and a 90% increase in dollar loss due to shoplifting over the same time period.

The set-up uses Strongpoint’s Vensafe Select&Collect kiosk and dispenser system. The Norwegian retail tech company has a footprint in more than 2,500 stores across Europe, a shelf-edge and locker system used for theft-prone items such as fragrances, video games or tobacco products.

The itch with VenSafe is that its solution significantly reduces theft, because products are only made available to shoppers after they’ve a payment has been processed. The system also tracks sales, stock variation, and machine openings – with an aim of curbing internal theft.

StrongPoint also suggests the screens could, when not in active use, be tied in to a retailer’s in-store media portfolio to generate revenue from ads.