All signs point positive for Walmart’s initial testing of its mobile self-checkout called Mobile Express Scan and Go. As the following article reports, the retail giant plans to launch the mobile pay and checkout app to another 100 stores.
Walmart is expanding its self-checkout technology to 100 additional stores nationwide.
Currently being tested in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Orlando and northwest Arkansas markets – and available at all Sam’s Club stores – Mobile Express Scan & Go will hit select stores in 33 states, where customers will be able to scan and bag items, including produce, while they shop, and pay for them with their phones. Upon launching the app, users will automatically see participating stores nearby.
Available for Android or iOS devices – or via handheld devices provided at kiosks in test stores – the app securely stores credit or debit card information for fast and easy checkout, just like shopping with the Walmart Pay mobile wallet. Once customers finish shopping and pay for their products, they walk through the Mobile Express lane, bypassing checkout.
“Not only does Scan & Go save time by letting people skip the register, it also helps make staying on budget easier,” the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer said on its blog. “Customers see the price of individual items as they scan them, along with a running total.”
Walmart is not a Johnny-come-lately to the mobile self-checkout app market, as it has proven its chops with its Sam’s Club’s successful Scan and Go app in all its warehouse stores. In any case, we will be seeing more mobile self-checkout applications across the retail space. There will also be some indication soon of the Amazon Go pilot status that uses a more complex form of mobile self-checkout than Walmart and Sam’s Club. Could Whole Foods be a testing ground for Amazon in the year ahead? Could Walmart be thinking of integrating self-checkout with its popular Walmart Pay app? Stay tuned.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Associate Director, Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group
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