Cash recyclers are advanced systems that help automate the cash room processes of organizations such as big box retailers, warehouse clubs, supermarkets, and other institutions that handle large volumes of cash on a daily basis. A cash recycler can accept, dispense, and secure the cash needed to run the day-to-day operation of a store, while at the same time provide the reporting needed to account for all transactions, down to the department and employee level.

Stores that choose to adopt the right cash recycler for their business can realize significant cost savings and immediate improvement in operational efficiencies. However, justifying the investment in a cash recycler requires a thorough understanding of the benefits a cash recycler provides. This in turn will help generate a solid business case to help justify its acquisition.

While all the elements of the business case go beyond the scope of this article, a few key benefits are worth highlighting. We’ll address additional benefits in future articles.

 

Re-Allocation of Labor

Many large stores have a dedicated cash room, attended by full-time attendants. These employees are responsible for checking tills out to cashiers at start of shift, conducting till sweeps, checking tills back in at end of shift, reconciling till balances against point-of-sale data, investigating discrepancies, counting and recounting money, and preparing deposits. Their daily to-do list is extensive.

Costs associated with staffing a cash room are typically proportional to the amount of cash a store handles. The more cash they deal with, the more employees they’ll need to handle it. Over time, these labor costs can be a detriment to a store’s profitability, not to mention the opportunity costs of mis-allocated labor.

With a cash recycler, most, if not all, of the aforementioned functions are automated. This essentially frees up the cash room attendants to focus on other more important activities, such as customer service, merchandising, employee training, and growing the store’s brand. If the right cash recycler is utilized to handle the store’s cash needs, it should be able to scale as the store’s cash transactions grow.

 

Reduced Cash Float

In the traditional cash management model, the number of transactions a store conducts on a daily basis has a direct relationship with the amount of float it needs to keep on hand to run its business. Float enables cashiers to make change for customers in the day or shift, before a sufficient number of cash sales accrue to make change from the day’s sales.

Keeping a high cash float introduces costs and risks to the store.   If a large amount of cash is in the store and not in the store’s bank account, it isn’t earning the store any money.  High cash float also places the store at risk for counting errors and theft, both of which drive up costs for the store.

With a cash recycler, funds deposited are reused for the next shift or next employee checking in. With recycled funds, the amount of float needed is greatly reduced, which in turn has a significant and positive effect on the store’s bottom line.

 

Accelerated Start of Shift and End of Shift Processes

For a store with many registers, starting and ending a shift in the cash room can be an inefficient process.   It is not atypical for a long queue to develop in the cash room for employees checking in or checking out their tills. For employees ending a shift, this can certainly be detrimental as their primary goal is to wrap up their day and go home.

With the right cash recycler, starting and ending a shift can be accomplished in just under a minute for each employee, and without additional human intervention. The recycler should be equipped not only with enough horsepower to handle cash dispensing into a till in a minimal amount of time; it should also provide the appropriate controls and user interface to enable seamless operation of the machine.

 

Summary

The right cash recycler can have a profound effect on the way a large retail store handles its cash.  It can automate processes in such a way that dedicated cash room employees can be repurposed to more productive store activities. It can minimize the cash float required to conduct business throughout the day, and it can greatly reduce the time required to check in and check out a till during shift changes. These are just a few benefits, out of an extensive list, that a cash recycler can offer a retail store that handles high volumes of cash.

We’ll explore additional benefits in future articles. Thank you for reading.