‘Till-free’ supermarket lets shoppers pay by app

Sainsbury’s has tested its first “tillfree” store where shoppers pay for their goods on an app.

The Sainsbury’s Local outlet in Clapham North lets iphone users with Apple Pay scan items with their phone through the supermarket’s Smartshop app, with payment taken immediately.

It comes after Amazon opened a checkout-free store in Seattle, US. “It fired the imagination of supermarkets here, with not just Sainsbury’s but also Tesco and the Co-op trialling various ways to achieve this,” said Adam Leyland, of industry magazine The Grocer. After finishing their shopping, customers scan a QR code to confirm their purchases and are free to leave.