Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Waitrose has rolled out its Quick Check ‘scan as you shop’ mobile app to all its myWaitrose customers, in a bid to lay the foundations for every part of a shopper’s visit to be assisted using a smartphone.
MyWaitrose is a loyalty programme that rewards the supermarket’s customers in different ways. The self-scan mobile app has been made available to all myWaitrose customers shopping in all Waitrose branches this week following a successful trial.
Four branches are currently unable to offer the service due to WiFi constraints: Little Waitrose Kings Cross Station, Waitrose Canterbury, Waitrose St Katherine Docks, London and Little Waitrose Warbrook, East London.
The app allows myWaitrose customers to scan product barcodes on their smartphones as they place products in their basket, removing the need for these goods to be scanned at a checkout, making the shopping and the checkout experience easier.
The service currently replicates the existing Quick Check handset service, but there is the potential for additional functionality to be added to the app which would assist the customer with their complete shopping experience.
Options could include digital shopping lists, the communication of relevant offers to customers as they shop, as well as integrating mobile payment.
Waitrose says it was first retailer in the UK to launch the current Quick Check handset service over 10 years ago and will now be the first to offer the service to all myWaitrose customers via their smartphones.
The current service comprises a handset scanner which also makes customers aware when there is an offer available on scanned products, and keeps a running total of spend. The retailer is in the process of upgrading these handsets, which are available in two-thirds of Waitrose shops.
Matt Clifton, Waitrose head of retail change, said: “The roll out of the Quick Check mobile app marks a real step change in our aim to make shopping with Waitrose as easy as possible and to lead the grocery sector in smartphone shopping.
“We know that customers are shopping little and often and therefore want the experience to be as convenient as possible.
“Being able to complete a whole shopping experience using only a smartphone means that shoppers can scan as they go, benefit from tailored offers, detailed product information and pay anywhere in the shop. The dynamic world of smartphone technology means that the future capabilities of this app are endless.”
All myWaitrose customers are automatically registered for Quick Check. They can download the Android or iOS app from Apple or Google Play and register their myWaitrose card. Once in a shop, myWaitrose customers can access the in-store WiFi for free.
Waitrose operates 347 shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, including 60 convenience branches, and another 27 shops at Welcome Break locations.
