A DOLLAR store chain is making a major new change – and the move will affect every customer.
Dollar General, a variety store company that has more than 18,000 locations across the US, will see one huge overhaul take place in 2022.
The alteration comes as the US retailer is opening up approximately three stores a day, resulting in an additional 1,100 stores, according to Forbes.
About 200 Dollar General stores across the nation will start advertising and positioning $1 products more strategically to customers this year and incorporating a significant change to the purchasing process.
Self-checkout
The major change is that the retailer is testing self-checkout as the only way of making in-store purchases.
The move is to allow store employees to better assist customers.
During an earnings call on May 26, Dollar General's chief operating officer Jeff Owens revealed 200 stores across the US will be piloting self-checkout as the only way of buying items in-store.
"Dollar General’s test of stores without staffed checkout counters comes as the retailer deals with rising costs and strives to remain attractive to its core customer base," Grocery Dive explains.
The move is a part of the retailer's Fast Track initiative – where the company's goals "include increasing labor productivity in our stores, enhancing customer convenience and further improving on-shelf availability," as per Dollar General's earnings call.
Owens explained: "The second component of Fast Track is self-checkout, which provides customers with another flexible and convenient checkout solution, while also driving greater efficiencies for our store associates.
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"Self-checkout was available in more than 8,000 stores at the end of Q1 and we continue to be pleased with our results, including strong customer adoption rates.
"As a result of the success of self-checkout and popularity with customers, we have recently launched a pilot of stores that are entirely self-checkout."
The change – which will be tested in approximately 200 stores in 2022 – will allow store associates to be available for customers' in-store needs.
"Looking ahead, we are on track to expand our self-checkout offering to a total of up to 11,000 stores by the end of the year, as we look to further extend our position as an innovative leader in small-box discount retail," Owens added.
Owens notes that the self-checkout-only feature is already available at 18,356 Dollar General locations across the US.
More changes
Dollar General has been one of the more successful retailers in 2022 as inflation remains at historic highs and shoppers are shying away from expensive retailers.
After the company reported its first-quarter earnings on May 26, Dollar General's stock price soared by nearly 14 percent in a day.
The earnings report showed that Dollar General's net sales grew by 4.4 percent in the quarter, and the company expects sustained growth throughout the year.
“We’re already starting to see our core customers start to shop more intentionally,” Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said on a call with analysts, according to CNBC.
“And we’re starting to see that next tier of customers start to shop with us a little bit more as well.”
“In tough times, value retail can be part of the solution to help families stretch their dollars to meet their evolving needs,” he said.
Some other big changes detailed in the dollar store's earnings report are larger store locations and an increase in private label products.
Around 800 of the planned 1,110 new locations will be 8,500 square feet, an upgrade from DG's average 7,400 square foot store.
Although the stores will be getting bigger, they're still not huge by comparison.
The average Walmart has 180,000 square feet, and even Dollar Tree typically builds 10,000 square foot locations.
Meanwhile, Dollar General's rising sales have been partially linked to an uptick in purchases of the store's private label products.
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The chain has been expanding its private options aggressively since 2020, and now has 24 store brands.
Dollar General's brands sell everything from detergent and shampoo to energy drinks and office supplies.
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