Among the changes to the retail experience caused by the pandemic, scan and go technology appears to be among the more permanent. A 2022 survey of U.S. shoppers found 76% of scan and go users started using the offering because of the pandemic, while 79% plan to continue using it once the pandemic ends.
Scan and go is part of the broader automated shopping and contactless payment market with other solutions such as self-checkout and autonomous checkout. The global contactless payment market size is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20.3% from $1.71 trillion in 2021 to $6.25 trillion in 2028, according to Research and Markets.
Among these options, scan and go presents retailers with an opportunity to grow their bottom lines and enhance the customer experience without greatly increasing their costs.
How does scan and go work?
Scan and go removes the requirement for customers to wait in line to pay for their purchases. Early deployments required customers to use a purpose-built scanner the retailer provided, but the latest technology leverages personal smartphones.
To use a scan and go app, a customer must download the store's app and link their payment card. The customer can then shop as usual, but before placing an item in their cart, they scan the item's barcode. The items are then added to the virtual cart in the app as they're scanned. When the user is done shopping, they pay for all the scanned items with the linked card and can walk out of the store without needing to wait in a checkout line.
Combatting theft
Unfortunately, retailers are likely familiar with needing to implement loss prevention measures as part of a scan and go implementation—a National Retail Federation survey found the average retail inventory shrinkage percentage to be 1.6% and the average loss per shoplifting incident to be $461.86. One survey found over 85% of retail companies using self-checkout systems reported their inventory discrepancies or thefts weren't higher or significantly higher than without those systems, with some even saying discrepancies fell.
Retailers can take a number of measures to combat theft. They likely already use methods such as employee training and video surveillance, but specific measures for scan and go include:
- Randomized checkout control, where an algorithm randomly selects baskets to be searched by an employee for theft control before they leave the store
- Banning or monitoring users flagged by an algorithm based on past behavior, unusual product combinations and unusual behavior in the app
- Adding additional security layers, such as an exit gate where a customer has to scan a QR code, in high-traffic or high-risk locations
- Limiting scan and go availability to certain consumers, such as premium members
The benefits of scan and go
In addition to expediting the checkout process, scan and go provides an enhanced shopping experience because it can seamlessly integrate coupons, special offers and digital loyalty programs. They can easily redeem points from those programs and have flexibility with their payment scheme—they can purchase a single basket of items using a combination of payment cards, offers and loyalty points. Their payment card might even be a retailer-branded one, which could facilitate a reduction in transaction fees for the retailer.
Automated shopping is part of a larger transformation in retail as it looks to leverage mobile edge computing and 5G connectivity, and even artificial intelligence and augmented reality (AR). A retailer's scan and go app could connect with digital signage that uses rich graphics and personalized messages and promotions.
More personalized advertising can be delivered to the scan and go app, if customers have opted-in to receive such information. For example, using in-store beacon technology, the app can notify a customer when they're near items in the store that may interest them based on their past purchases. Every interaction is an opportunity for the retailer to gather insight into customers' purchasing data and shopping trends, which can facilitate real-time upselling and cross-selling to maximize sales.
Scan and go benefits
For those considering between scan and go and autonomous checkout, some of the benefits of scan and go include:
- Reduced cost of deployment and overheads: Scan and go requires customers to use their phones, whereas autonomous checkout requires cameras and sensors.
- Easier adoption and scalability: Scan and go requires much less initial setup, and once the system is established, it's easy to scale. This is particularly relevant to existing retail locations, which may face disruptions in order to add in-shelf cameras and sensors for autonomous checkout.
- Complements customer preferences: Surveys show customers like using their smartphones while shopping in-store, using them to compare prices, read reviews and seek product information. Scan and go complements this desire by allowing consumers to search and pay for products on the same device at the same time.
Automated shopping success stories
Many large retailers have implemented scan and go technology—companies such as Walmart and Apple were early adopters of automated shopping. Walmart sibling Sam's Club now lets customers in select locations use their federal supplemental nutrition benefits to pay for purchases with scan and go, making it the first major retailer to support digital electronic benefits transfer payment for in-store transactions. Recent increased lawn and garden store adoption highlights when scan and go works best:
- When customers benefit more from employees sharing their knowledge than staffing checkout
- When products have set prices, meaning there's no need to weigh items such as fresh produce (Walmart doesn't allow produce that needs to be weighed to be purchased in its scan and go app)
Learn more about how transformative technologies, like scan and go, allow retailers of all sizes and markets to implement automated shopping to enhance the customer experience and improve the efficiency of their operations.
The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.