Krónan fixed their Scan & Go issues by switching from Google ML Kit to Scanbot SDK
Goal
To improve their customer-facing mobile app, Krónan needed a reliable barcode scanning solution capable of reading DataBar codes.
Challenge
The team explored several options but struggled to find a provider with a suitable pricing model.
Solution
The Scanbot SDK proved to be just what Krónan was looking for in terms of pricing and exceeded its expectations regarding performance.
Key Results
Support for DataBar
Customers can scan even small barcodes on fresh produce.
No accidental scans
Thanks to the intuitive UI, customers only scan the barcodes they want to scan.
Growth-friendly pricing
Unlimited users, devices, and scans for a fixed yearly fee.
How Krónan perfected Scan & Go with the Scanbot Barcode Scanner SDK
Krónan stands for a convenient, modern shopping experience. A cornerstone of the retailer’s strategy is a mobile app, which customers can use to order products for home delivery or in-store pick-up. Since its introduction, the Krónan app has become extremely popular and is now used by a large portion of the Icelandic population.
The app also has a built-in Scan & Go feature: In Krónan stores, shoppers can easily add items to a digital shopping cart for in-app checkout and payment.
With ML Kit, we couldn’t read DataBar codes at all. We solved this by switching to the Scanbot SDK, which not only added DataBar support, but also fixed a critical issue involving accidental barcode scans. It only took us a few weeks from testing to roll-out, not least thanks to the excellent support from the Scanbot SDK developers.
The Krónan team initially used Google ML Kit as the barcode scanning library for Scan & Go. However, the lack of support for DataBar – a key barcode symbology in retail – was a dealbreaker. The team looked into several alternatives, but finding one with a pricing model that fit the retailer’s high-volume use case proved difficult.
They finally found what they were looking for in the Scanbot Flutter Barcode Scanner SDK. Firstly, its fixed pricing means Krónan can budget with certainty even as the app’s userbase grows. The SDK supports DataBar codes and also solves other issues the team had encountered while using ML Kit.
In particular, their original scanning component sometimes processed barcodes on background items – and added them to the shopping cart without the user noticing. The Scanbot SDK prevents this issue with its viewfinder. The feature limits the scanning area and highlights scanned barcodes on the screen, clearly communicating each step to the user.
To further improve the user experience of the barcode scanner, Krónan and the Scanbot SDK team also collaborated on a feature to ignore barcodes that take up less than a specified percentage of the screen. This means that even when barcodes do enter the viewfinder, they are ignored unless they’re close to the camera.
The Scanbot SDK is more than just a scanner with DataBar support. With this solution, Krónan has improved the overall user experience in its mobile app, contributing to its increasing adoption among customers.
Integrating the solution took just a few weeks from trial to roll-out, thanks to the quick support from the Scanbot SDK developers. The collaboration went both ways: The Krónan team provided helpful insights on the Barcode Scanner’s feature set. Scanbot SDK’s engineers have evaluated and built on these suggestions for their development pipeline.
The process before the Scanbot SDK
Customers launch Scan & Go in the Krónan mobile app.
They scan the barcodes on their items, but cannot scan fresh foods with DataBar codes.
After making sure that no items were added to the digital cart accidentally, they check out their products, pay in the app, and leave the store.
The process with the Scanbot SDK
Customers launch Scan & Go in the Krónan mobile app.
They quickly scan each item, including fresh produce labeled with DataBar codes, to add them to their digital shopping carts.
They check out their items, pay in the app, and leave the store.
Scanning barcodes with the Krónan app is now much more user-friendly and far less prone to unintentional scans. With the new scanner successfully rolled out, the Krónan team is actively looking for more ways to improve its mobile app with the Scanbot SDK and plans to use the scanner in other areas as well, e.g., for in-store pickups.
In conclusion, integrating the Scanbot SDK provided the following benefits:
No more failed or accidental scans
Improved user experience
Enterprise-grade support and direct communication with the development team
