Loblaw is rolling out a new self-checkout app that lets people scan their items as they shop — the goal is to save customers time at checkout.
Since Thursday, the grocer began testing out its new “shop and scan" technology in five of its stores across the Greater Toronto Area, with plans to roll out the app in at least three Real Canadian Superstores locations in the coming weeks.
“We’ve heard from customers that they’re looking for a more convenient way to shop, and this allows them to use their own mobile device to check pricing and scan in their groceries,” Loblaw spokesperson Catherine Thomas wrote in an email.
To use the new tech, customers need an internet connection and to download the PC Express app onto their phones. Then, shoppers can use the app to scan the barcodes on items before they place them into their shopping carts.
When it comes to produce items such as fruits or vegetables, which are priced on weight, participating stores will provide digital scales.
As you shop, the app will give a “real-time total of their purchase,” Thomas said.
When customers are ready to checkout, the app will create a item total barcode, which they can then scan to pay at either a traditional cashier lane, self-scan checkout or at the new kiosks specially designed for the app.
The new app will be tested out in Loblaw locations at Queen Street and Portland Street, Leslie Street and Lakeshore Boulevard, Forest Hill, Maple Leaf Gardens, and Glen Erin in the GTA.
Upcoming pilot store locations in Ontario be in Milton, Oakville, and on Argentia Road in Mississauga.
The long-term goal of the app is to have shoppers eventually bypass self-checkout kiosks by having an in-app purchase system.
When it comes to how or if the app will affect cashier jobs, Thomas said “at this point, we do not expect any changes in our workforce.”
