Dutch retailer Albert Heijn has started testing a new cashless shopping system at its AH To Go stores.
The ‘tap, grab and go’ system involves in-store electronic shelf labels that can be scanned with an Albert Heijn card.
Customers can tap the label, which registers the item and places it in their digital basket, grab the item, and pay automatically via an app on their phone, without using a checkout. The payment amount is deducted automatically within ten minutes from their account.
The retailer said that the tapping and scanning will be available for smartphones in the future, too.
Tech Expansion
Albert Heijn has trialled ‘tap to go’ at its AH To Go store at the head office of its parent company, Ahold Delhaize, in Zaandam. The trial is set to be extended to multiple AH To Go stores by the end of the second quarter of 2018.
This system is designed to make the shopping experience quicker and more seamless for people on the go, the retailer said.
“The technical developments are happening quickly, and we are ready to start now, so why wait?” said Jan-Willem Dockheer, managing director of AH To Go.
“The sooner we begin, the more we learn. ‘Tap to go’ responds to the need for speed and convenience that our customers expect on the go. That is why AH To Go is the perfect setting to test our latest innovation,” Dockheer continued.
Elsewhere, the retailer recently launched Rappie, its new delivery app, with courier service Superbuddy, which is trialling in Rotterdam.
In September, it introduced a personalised grocery list to its online shopping portal, AH.nl, which compiles suggestions and predictions based on customers’ purchasing habits.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
