UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is trialling till-free shopping in one of its busiest London convenience stores.
Sainsbury’s says its new scan, pay and go technology will enable customers to pay for products in-store with their smartphones. It means they could skip the checkouts completely.
The trial is happening at the Clapham North Station Local branch. Using the latest version of the SmartShop app, customers can use their smartphones to scan their shopping as they go. They can then pay for it through the app, from anywhere in the store, using Apple Pay.
$2 trillion
Customers can already use SmartShop in 68 Sainsbury’s supermarkets. It’s rapidly getting more popular with Sainsbury’s customers. They clock up more than 100,000 SmartShop transactions every week, and 3,000-4,000 new customer registrations.
Sainsbury’s predicts in-store contactless payments to reach $2 trillion by 2020, counting for one in three in-store transactions.
Sainsbury’s Group Chief Digital Officer Clodagh Moriarty said: “Technology and changing customer shopping habits have transformed the way people buy their groceries.
“Our teams are constantly working hard to bring new convenient shopping experiences to customers and we’re delighted to be the first grocery retailer in the UK to offer customers the ability to shop checkout-free.
“The latest version of SmartShop, with its new payment feature, will make it super quick for customers to get in and out of the store for those that want to scan, pay and go.”
In addition to the SmartShop app, the store in Clapham North will also have both self-serve checkouts and manned checkouts. These will be for customers who prefer to pay at a till.
Sainsbury’s will also gather customer feedback from the Clapham North branch. It will use it to develop and improve the experience before testing the technology in different store types and locations in the coming months.