Scan and go: Co-op shoppers to avoid tills with phone app
by Rupert Jones from Technology | The Guardian on (#3HHJ4)
Technology expected to be rolled out this summer raises fears for retail jobs
The Co-op is set to roll out technology that allows shoppers to scan and pay for items on their smartphone while they shop, and then walk out of the store without visiting a till.
The retailer's "shop, scan and go" service follows Amazon's experiment with an automated convenience store in the US. Such initiatives could spell the beginning of the end for the supermarket checkout - fuelling fears that automation could eventually eliminate millions of retail jobs. In Britain, 2.9 million people are employed in the retail trade.