Sainsburys opens checkout-free supermarket

This technology used by the supermarket chain allows shoppers to pay via their smartphone. The trial is taking place at the company’s refurbished Holborn Circus convenience store in London, where all tills and checkout areas have been removed.

Customers scan and pay for groceries using the SmartShop Scan, Pay & Go mobile app on their smartphone, with no need to queue or pay at a till. Instead, customers scan their groceries as they go round the store, pay in the app, and then scan a QR code before they leave to provide proof of payment.

There is also a helpdesk for customers wanting to pay with cash or cards rather than through their mobile. The retailer says 82% of transactions in the store are currently cashless. Sainsbury’s introduced a self-checkout mobile payments service for its in-store customers in August 2018. The technology is live in eight of its London convenience stores.