Why 63 CPG Brands Said Yes to Smart Checkout

The shopping basket has long held the key to unlocking brand insights at checkout. However, brands have lacked a clear method to access this information at the moment of purchase. Smart checkout technology aims to change this by linking products in a customer's basket with relevant offers and automatically applying the savings upon payment.

PYMNTS Intelligence, in collaboration with FIS, conducted a report titled "The Smart Checkout Opportunity: Why Brands Are Ready to Fund a Smarter Checkout Ecosystem" to explore this emerging trend.

The report reveals that consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands invest heavily in attracting shoppers and boosting sales, but many promotions still rely on broad customer groups, paper coupons, or offers that customers must actively seek and activate. Brands often struggle to measure the impact of these promotions on individual purchases and lack a direct connection between their data collection and the offers presented at checkout.

Smart basket technology presents an opportunity for brands to bridge this gap. By identifying eligible products, selecting appropriate offers, and applying the savings at the point of payment, brands can engage with customers at a crucial stage of the buying process. This approach can help brands capture more value from shoppers and provide retailers with additional avenues to increase basket size and offer added value.

Despite the potential benefits, promotional budgets have not kept pace with brand interest. Approximately half of the surveyed brands currently utilize checkout-integrated promotions, yet these offers rank second among the channels brands consider most effective for customer attraction and growth. The data suggests that checkout has significant potential to play a more prominent role in enhancing customer engagement and driving sales.

Smaller CPG brands, particularly those with less than $1 billion in annual revenue, are particularly optimistic about the prospects of smart checkout. Forty-seven percent of these brands expect it to become a significant competitive advantage within the next two years, compared to only 10% of larger brands with over $10 billion in revenue. This disparity highlights the opportunity for smaller companies to leverage smart checkout as a means of gaining a competitive edge in a crowded marketplace.