Imagine walking into a supermarket, getting all of your groceries and simple leaving without being forced to go through a queue. Tesco has done it.
The retail giant has unveiled its first ever checkout-free store in at its High Holborn location in central London, giving its shoppers who utilize the Tesco.com app the chance to avoid lines.
The remarkable technology called GetGo in partnership with Trigo comes on the heels of a successful trial at Tesco’s colleague store in Welwyn Garden City. The High Holborn location was also the first to take cashless payments.
“This is a really exciting moment for Tesco as we launch GetGo with customers,” Kevin Tindall, Managing Director, Tesco Convenience said. “We are constantly looking for ways to improve the shopping experience and our latest innovation offers a seamless checkout for customers on the go, helping them to save a bit more time. This is currently just a one-store trial but we’re looking forward to seeing how our customers respond”.
How does it work? Customers will first check in through the app at the store entrance. Cameras and weight-sensors will establish the items that customers have selected and charge them through the app when they exit the supermarket. Tesco says the technology will not track facial recognition but only body movements and none of the data will be saved or stored.
For those areas of the store when age restrictions are in place, there will be a separate point to leave the store where store colleagues will check those items and ask for identification.
Tesco customers then will receive a receipt on their phone minutes after they’ve left.
