Yahoo Finance Co-op to rollout 'scan and go' shopping where checkouts are a thing of the past
The Co-op will become the first UK supermarket to rollout no-queue, no-checkout stores.
Dubbed shop, scan and go, it will see customers scan and pay for their groceries via a smartphone app as they make their way round the store.
Once they’ve finished shopping, they simply walk out – without having to stop a till.
It’s an idea that has been pioneered in the US by internet giant Amazon, which earlier this year went live with its first “digital” supermarket – Amazon Go – without tills or checkouts.
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The Co-op is currently testing the concept at its retailer support centre store in Manchester, with a wider rollout beginning this summer.
Matthew Speight, director of retail support at the Co-op, said: “It is all about consumer choices and convenience.
“We recognise there are many communities where customers pop in to their local Co-op and enjoy a friendly chat – it is all part of the service.
“Whereas for others, perhaps with a train to catch or on a school run, every second can count as consumers seek increased convenience.”
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The technology sits alongside conventional payment methods in store – such as self-service tills and manned checkouts.
The Co-op is working with Mastercard UK to ensure customer digital security.
The technology allows customers to scan products on their own device as they walk around the store – known as a “frictionless shopping experience”.
When they have finished shopping, the amount they owe will then be deducted from their secure account with a single click.
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The community retailer is seeing the number of cash transactions in its stores rapidly reduce in favour of alternative payment methods.
Cash transactions have dropped by more than one fifth over the last five years, with a 15% reduction in the last 18 months alone.
“Technology is bringing unprecedented change to retailing right before our eyes, however the challenge for all of us who play a part in the retail experience is meeting the needs of all consumers who are moving at different speeds in the adoption of technology,” said Elliott Goldenberg, head of digital payments at Mastercard UK.
“By scanning products using Co-op’s mobile app, shoppers can checkout using payment card details securely stored within Masterpass, and leave the store, with both the Co-op and them knowing they have paid,” he added.
