Sainsbury's opens first till-free grocery store in UK

The grocer’s Holborn Circus Local store has today gone fully till-free and will see all customers pay for their groceries using the SmartShop Scan, Pay & Go app on their smartphones.

Customers can scan groceries as they go around the store, pay in the app and scan a QR code before leaving that “reassures them they have paid, with no need to queue or pay at a till”. The range of products available at the store has been “tailored specifically for busy customers buying breakfast, lunch, or food to eat on the go”.

Sainsbury’s said all checkout areas and tills have been removed, which will free staff up to “spend their time on the shop floor, helping customers and keeping shelves fully stocked”. The store will also have a help desk to support customers who wish to pay with cash or card.

The retailer said “customer feedback from the experiment” will help the retailer develop the app further, before being rolled out in other stores more widely.

The grocer said the Holborn Circus store “experiment” will continue for at least three months, and follows the launch of its payment app in August last year. The technology is currently available to use in eight convenience stores in London.

Sainsbury’s chief digital officer Clodagh Moriarty said: “We know our customers value their time and many want to shop as quickly as possible – technology is key to that. This is an experiment rather than a new format for us – it hasn’t been done in the UK before and we’re really excited to understand how our customers respond to the app experience.

“We’ll be with our customers and colleagues all the way over the coming months, iterating continuously based on their feedback before we decide if, how and where we make this experience more widely available.”