In the five-year project "If the payment system crashes", 500 societal actors participated, such as food chains, petrol stations, municipalities and more.
The project was carried out by the University of Skövde, in collaboration with Linköping University, Mid Sweden University and Combitech AB.
The project manager is not impressed by Coop's readiness.
- I think that if stores are well prepared, then they should be able to come up with a few different reserve alternatives faster than what happened in this case, says Joeri van Laere.
Thinker
He also believes that it is a food for thought for customers, which he hopes will be better at storing some reserves at home.
- We now see how big an impact a food chain will have, that they actually close.
If it were to hit all retail chains, we would have a greater challenge to society, says Joeri van Laere.
- Now it became a crisis for Coop, not a societal crisis.
But if all grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations would be a big crisis.
Could have affected others
That Coop was affected and not other large food chains, Joeri van Laere believes is more of a coincidence than that they would be better prepared.
- I do not have all the details, but based on what I found out, it could just as easily have affected ICA, Willys or another food chain.
As far as I know, they also only have a cash register system, says Joeri van Laere.
- It is not Coop but a subcontractor who was attacked.
So for others like ICA and Willys, it's probably more luck than skill that they managed.
The research project
The research project "If the payment system crashes" was based on a game that the research group built and which was about dealing with a payment failure. The participants had to practice in different scenarios based on the premise that no card payments can be made in ten days. The solutions could be to print more cash or close grocery stores to see if the situation improved or worsened. One of several conclusions was that alternative payment methods, such as cash payments, must exist.