Sainsbury’s trials queue-less payment

UK retailer Sainsbury’s is following in the footsteps of Amazon Go by trialling a queue-less payment system in its London Euston store.

The retailer is trialling the system for its £3 ‘On the Go’ lunch deals in the north London store, comprising a sandwich or salad, side and a drink, which sees customers pay for their purchases automatically via an app, after scanning them on their smartphones.

Head of customer experience Natalie Dunn said the retailer was “some way off” rolling this out further, but was excited to have taken the first steps.

“We are keen to understand how it could take the concept and develop an offering that is genuinely useful for those who shop with us,” she said.

The retailer has not confirmed whether it will develop the concept to pay for booze sales in the future, however the move indicates how retailers are increasingly embracing smart tech to boost the convenience-factor for its consumers. 

Sainsbury’s already has a smart pay app in a selection of trial store which allows customers to scan their shopping via their phone before paying at the check out.

The move follows the trial of Amazon’s revolutionary ‘grab and go’ grocery store in Seattle, which is still in beta testing phase by Amazon staff before being rolled out to the general public.  The advanced tech in the store has been designed to use sensor fusion, algorithms, and cameras to automatically track products being taken off the shelf, allowing the e-commerce-giant to charge customers’ Amazon accounts for the items once they have left the store, but its roll out was delayed due to glitches in the technology. 

The online giant’s fist’ bricks and mortar store has applied for a licence to sell alcohol, the US tech website Recode.net reported in February.