-By Joseph Tarnowski

Digital media is the Great Divide between the older generation of supermarket operators -- who grew up with paper signs and fliers -- and younger generations of shoppers, who grew up on the Web.

Progressive Grocer's sixth executive roundtable on technology, sponsored by Newtown Square, Pa.-based SAP Retail and held at its Dallas office, shed light on the benefits and challenges of digital technologies in courting these younger shoppers -- technologies such as information and ordering kiosks, electronic coupons, and the Internet.

Retailers in on the discussion were Larry Foster, senior director of e-commerce and retail services for Edina, Minn.-based Nash Finch; Chris Groman, director of IT, Fresh Encounter, Findlay, Ohio; Larry Simpson, v.p. of information systems, Bashas', Chandler, Ariz.; and Alan Williams, v.p. of applications development for Ahold Information Services, Ahold USA, Quincy, Mass. Also in attendance was Randy Evins, industry principal, SAP Retail.

Progressive Grocer: How do you think the next generation -- which grew up in the Digital Age -- will want to shop your stores?

Larry Foster: There is a gap between our generation and the gen-Xers, the gen-Yers, and the millennials. They don't want a piece of paper, they don't want to go to a kiosk; when they walk in, they want to flip their phone open and see the specials. How do you reach out to those people? A lot of them don't know how to cook, and eat out or order in.

Chris Groman: Yes, but money is a strong driving force with them. They're going to be in a situation like I was, where my wife and I looked at our budget and realized we were spending $600, $700 a month on eating out. And even with generation Xers, it's going to push them right back in the store, and maybe force them to learn how to shop.

Randy Evins: I think it'll be a hybrid. Maybe they don't want to walk up and down the aisles, so they'll order their groceries online, but go to the store for the fresh stuff. For my kids, who range in age from 17 to 21, the concept of going to a physical facility is not even in their realm of reality. They live on the phone.

Alan Williams: We'll have to be able to reach them anywhere, anytime. That's their expectation of delivery that we'll have to meet.

PG: Meanwhile, however, electronic messaging of all kinds is gaining momentum in the grocery industry. Information and ordering kiosks are much more common, Web sites are beginning to become functionally rich, and messages are extending to mobile devices as well. Electronic coupons are relative newcomers to the field. What do you think of them?

Williams: Coupons like Cellfire?

PG: Yes, Kroger is working with them.

Williams: That's going to represent a new challenge for retailers and issuers, because there are no exchange standards in place. So if I'm working with Cellfire, for instance, I'm going to tell them that I want transactions in my format, and so will the other retailers, and typically those coupons get linked to a loyalty program that's triggered electronically. So if you're Cellfire and you're interacting with three or four different retailers, there is no commonality among the various store couponing capabilities. And it won't scale because there is no common basis for exchange.

PG: What about self-service technology, such as information or ordering kiosks? They address two consumer hot buttons: convenience and the need for information. Are any of you using this technology, and, if so, how does it fit your company strategy?

Foster: We just opened a new-format store that centers a lot on organic-type foods, and consumers of organics are typically information-hungry. And then you have those mainstream shoppers who just want to know the difference between organic and conventional. So there's a big information need. We also provide information on the Web site for that store, through Aisle7. Users can search for items several ways, such as by remedies. You can look up back pain, and it gives the conventional, organic, and holistic solutions for it. And if you go to the organic section, there are recipes for organic.

But there is always the question of what content to include. How am I going to get Mr. and Mrs. Consumer to walk over to that kiosk and say, "Yeah, this really delivers value to me." And I don’t know what that value is yet. Will shoppers print out recipes as a shopping list?

Williams:  It could be too late. They've already formed their shopping list by the time they enter the store.

Foster: Yes, most know what they're going to have. But then there are those people who get to the store and have no idea what they are doing, and prefer to wander the aisles.

Williams: I think retailers are still in an evaluation mode with kiosks. There are a lot of challenges: What is the right number of kiosks? What is the right content? How do you keep the content fresh, keep the people coming back to it, and do you have an organization and processes in place to do that?

Larry Simpson: We're one of those retailers. We haven't really done a whole lot with kiosks. We're evaluating some systems, and trying to work out what's going to deliver the best benefit for us.

PG [to Williams]: Your company has used several self-service tools, such as the Shopping Buddy, for several years. Can you tell us how your use of them has evolved? And also tell us how your new deli-ordering kiosks are working out.

Williams: The Shopping Buddy was kind of a self-scanner on steroids. It had a ton of functionality, but in the end was probably too much technology for the consumer. It was a bit overwhelming. We ultimately kept some of the capabilities that could be implemented on a small handheld, basically the scan-and-bag feature, but eliminated the big screen and the alerts of nearby specials.

Stop & Shop is also using the deli-kiosk version of that -- it's made by Modiv Media, which makes the self-scanners. That's been very well accepted.

PG: My father loves it. He shops at a Stop & Shop in Long Island. What about at the shelf? Has anyone implemented electronic shelf labels (ESLs)?

Evins [After retailers give a negative reply]: ESLs are like RFID -- everybody got all hot about it, but it was too expensive. Conceptually ESLs are great; I can make a price sheet any time I want. I can change my whole store right now. But then you have to pay the shelf tag guys to create the tags and set up the system.

Foster: And that's the question, are you really going to do that? No, you can't.

Williams: It may be better suited for a store with seasonal traffic, such as one in a vacation area. Say, for example, you have a store in a beach community. During the summer you can have one set of prices for Friday through Sunday. But then again, you don't want to upset any shoppers, and they may get upset if they find out the difference in prices.

Foster: How long is it going to be before they catch on to that, and realize that after 7 at night they're paying 10 percent more? I'd rather go home and watch ER first, and then I'll go another time and save my 10 percent. Then eventually they get tired of the scheduling and go to your competitor.