No more checkouts! This supermarket chain has just gone cashless and cardless
Convenience store 7-Eleven has taken an Amazon approach and opened a flagship store that is completely cash and card free. The new store, which is based in Richmond, Melbourne, allows shoppers to use their smartphone to complete transactions using an app.
The store has no physical checkout counter because all purchases are made via your mobile phone.
Customers simply browse through the aisles, pick up the items they want and scan the barcodes on their phone. They then complete the transaction via the 7-Eleven app.
7-Eleven chief executive Angus McKay is thrilled about the new development.
“Nobody likes to wait, so eliminating queues was part of the mission for this mobile checkout,” he said in a statement.
“In the new concept store, customers will notice the absence of a counter.
“The store feels more spacious and customers avoid being funnelled to a checkout location, creating a frictionless in-store experience.”
The company intends to continue trialling new functions across Australia, so your local store could be next.
“Continuing our focus on providing ultimate convenience, this year we’re trialling a catering service, and we’re thinking about ways to provide an extraordinary experience to more customers, more often, in more ways that suit them,” McKay explained.
“That might be delivery, it might be micro store formats.
“We’re trying to push the notion of ‘convenience’ to its absolute limit.”
Eagle-eyed fans spotted the changes in store yesterday and let others know via the 7-Eleven Facebook page.
Word is that 7-Eleven got their inspiration from Amazon, who opened a similar store at the start of last year that allowed customers to use technology to take what they wanted and go.
Customers entered the store by scanning the Amazon Go app on their mobile at a turnstile and every item taken off the shelf was added to the customer’s individual cart.
Customers paid electronically via an account linked to their phone and left the store without exchanging cash or card for any products they purchased.
Despite no staff manning the checkouts, there were some staff in the store that were used to help customers and stock shelves.