‘One in three retailers to add support for scan-and-go payment in next three years’

One in three UK retailers plan to add support for scan-and-go payment in recent future, claims a recent report.

According to  “Instant Payments Transformation Guide: Grocery, Pharmacy And Convenience Retailers,” – PYMNTS and ACI Worldwide collaboration,31.5 per cent of retailers in the UK plan to add support for scan-and-go payments in the next three years.

The report adds that UK retailers are more open to the new checkout technology than their US peers. PYMNTS’ survey found that just one in five (21.1 per cent) of US retailers were planning to introduce scan-and-go payment options in the next three years.

This difference in appetite for new payment solutions can be observed in other areas of innovation too. Just 11.9 per cent of US retailers said they intend to add support for buy now, pay later as compared to 20.1 per cent of UK merchants who expressed an interest in doing so, states the report.

Some of the country’s major grocers have already launched apps that allow customers to scan as they shop and pay with their mobile. Most recently, Sainsbury’s, announced in November that it has partnered with Checkout.com to roll out its “SmartShop” self-checkout system across the UK following a successful pilot last year.

In such systems, device-based application have systems that require a separate barcode scanner that people can use to scan items as they put them in their baskets. The same have been in place at many of the countries leading supermarkets for years.

While these systems still require customers to visit a till or self-checkout kiosk to make payment, they are an important stepping stone away from having to scan an entire basket or trolley of goods at the end of each shopping trip.

Grocery giants Tesco and Waitrose have also introduced mobile apps with which customers can scan as they shop, but have yet to integrate an in-app payment function.