U.S. Walmart stores drop Scan & Go

FILE — A Walmart in Kissimmee, Florida is shown in this Jan. 5, 2017 file photo.
FILE — A Walmart in Kissimmee, Florida is shown in this Jan. 5, 2017 file photo.

Walmart Inc. no longer offers its Scan & Go service in U.S. stores, ending a test designed to make shopping easier for customers by giving them the chance to bypass the checkout line.

The mobile express technology -- which enabled shoppers to use a hand-held device or mobile phone app to scan items as they shopped -- is no longer available a few months after Walmart expanded the test to include about 120 locations.

"We're testing things all across the country at different stores and it's about what works best for the customer," Walmart spokesman Ragan Dickens said. "We want the whole checkout process to be that seamless process. So if there's points in the process that are not quite there yet on the seamless front, we take those learnings and we're plugging them into other areas of the store."

The company tested Scan & Go at three locations in Arkansas: a Walmart Supercenter and a Neighborhood Market in Rogers, and a supercenter in Malvern.

Signs inside the supercenter in Rogers on Monday thanked shoppers for their Scan & Go participation and indicated the company would learn from the test.

It's the second time Walmart tried a Scan & Go system with U.S. customers. The company first began testing an early version of the service in 2013, but wrapped up without a larger adoption across the chain.

The latest version was introduced to a few stores in 2017.

Annibal Sodero, an assistant professor at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, said he's not surprised Walmart pulled the plug on the latest test. Sodero believed the technology deployed by Walmart required customers to "do a lot of work," which included weighing fresh fruits and vegetables that aren't available in easy-to-scan packages.

"They said it was to improve the customer experience," Sodero said. "But you want to increase the customer experience by dumping more work on customers? So it was a little bit conflicting."

The Scan & Go app was available on Android and iOS devices and could store credit and debit card information. When customers using the app finished shopping, they were able to click a button to pay for the products scanned and show the digital receipt to an employee at the exit.

Some Wal-Mart stores offered hand-held devices at kiosks as well. After shopping, customers would proceed to a bank of unmanned registers and pay for the products in their basket.

"I'm somewhat surprised that Scan & Go didn't take hold," said Carol Spieckerman, a retail consultant and president of Spieckerman Retail. "Given the relatively small number of stores involved, lack of awareness may have played a role."

A similar technology has worked at Sam's Club, which introduced its version of Scan & Go in 2015 and rolled it out to the entire warehouse chain. But Sam's Club -- which will continue offering Scan & Go -- carries far fewer items than Walmart stores and all of its products are packaged.

Neil Stern, senior partner at retail consultant firm McMillan-Doolittle, said the differences made Scan & Go easier to catch on at Sam's Club.

While Walmart shoppers have grown accustomed to the concept of self-checkouts, Scan & Go proved "less than completely intuitive for the customer."

Still, Stern thought Walmart ended the test more quickly than expected after announcing plans in January to introduce the technology to additional stores.

"I think it's OK that they're moving on," Stern said. "But they better have another solution on board."

Walmart will continue to maintain its bank of self-checkout registers -- which are located under signs that say 'Scan & Go' -- in stores, according to Dickens.

The retailer is testing other checkout options, including a new service in about 350 lawn and garden centers called "check out with me." The initiative enables customers shopping in the lawn and garden section to check out with an employee equipped with a hand-held device. Dickens said if the test proves successful with customers, Walmart could expand to other locations or additional sections within the store.

Analysts said the service appears to be one replacement for Scan & Go as Walmart continues to test ways to make shopping easier to compete against Amazon.com and Kroger Co.

Amazon introduced Amazon Go, a small-format store that enables customers to walk in, grab what they want and leave as items are automatically charged to their accounts. The online giant opened its first cashier-free store in Seattle and is planning additional stores for San Francisco and Chicago, according to the Seattle Times.

Meanwhile, Kroger Co. said earlier this year it planned to introduce a cashier-free service called "Scan, Bag, Go" to about 400 locations this year.

Dickens said Walmart is looking "across the board at the whole checkout process" as it evaluates convenience-based options. The company continues to rapidly expand its online grocery pickup service and is introducing hundreds of in-store pickup towers. The retailer also has implemented express lanes in the pharmacy and financial service areas designed to provide faster service.

"I think [Amazon Go] led so many people to say, 'We've got to improve what we call frictionless retail," Stern said. "Improve the checkout process and make it easier for customers to come through the door. [Scan & Go] isn't the right solution, but there's got to be another one right behind it."

Business on 05/15/2018

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