Walmart Abandons Cashierless Mobile Checkout
Just a few months after announcing that it would expand the Scan & Go solution to 100 U.S. stores, Walmart has dropped the program, citing a lack of customer usage.
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
The mobile app allowed shoppers to scan items as they moved through the store and then bypass the checkout line for payment.
“There was low participation,” Walmart spokesman Ragan Dickens told Business Insider, adding that some parts of the service were creating “friction” for customers.
Walmart’s move comes at a time when rival Amazon is expanding its cashier-free Amazon Go concept to as many as six locations in 2018. Additionally, supermarket giant Kroger will bring its Scan, Bag, Go program to 400 stores, and 235-store grocer Meijer plans to go chainwide with its Shop & Scan program this summer.
The company will continue testing Check Out With Me in the lawn and garden centers of more than 350 stores. This program arms associates with cellular devices and Bluetooth printers so shoppers don’t have to go into the store to pay for bulky gardening items.