Sainsbury's releases Christmas advert
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Sainsbury’s has opened a new checkout-free store in London. The supermarket giant has teamed up with online retailer Amazon to create a shop where customers can choose items and leave without having to go through a till and physically pay.
The store opened in Holborn, central London, today.
It is said to be just yards away from other supermarket rivals checkout-free stores, Amazon Fresh and Tesco.
Sainsbury’s is using Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology for inside the shop, and this is Amazon’s first partnership with a third-party international customer for the equipment.
The technology is currently being used across eight Amazon Fresh stores in London.
As for how Sainsbury’s customers will use the new system, the SmartShop app is required.
Shoppers can enter the store, pick up items they wish to buy and leave with the cameras doing all the work by recognising which products are purchased.
The customer’s debit or credit card linked to their account is then charged as they walk out.
Speaking about the new system, Clo Moriarty, Sainsbury’s retail and digital director, said: “We are always looking at new ways to make shopping easy and convenient for our customers.
“We are excited about launching ‘SmartShop Pick & Go’, which offers contactless, checkout-free shopping to our customers, and are looking forward to hearing their feedback.”
Dilip Kumar, Amazon’s vice president of physical retail and technology said: “We are thrilled to collaborate with Sainsbury’s to enable their Holborn Circus checkout-free convenience store powered by our Just Walk Out technology.
“We’re excited to bring Just Walk Out technology to our first customer internationally with Sainsbury’s.
“With no tills, no checkout lanes, and no self-service scanners, we can’t wait to hear how busy Londoners enjoy the experience.”
Sainsbury’s first opened a till-less store in Holborn, back in April 2019.
However, customers struggled with that system, which required shoppers to scan items with their phones.
As a result, the supermarket reintroduced checkouts five months later.
There are several other supermarket brands who are looking to follow Amazon Fresh.
Aldi is preparing to open its first checkout-free store in Greenwich.
Morrisons is testing its own vision of the technology, codenamed Project Sarah, at its Bradford headquarters and has plans to quickly roll out dozens of small stores at busy locations.
It comes after The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said supermarket cashier jobs are among the most at risk from being replaced by automation, with 65 percent of checkout operator jobs at risk.
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