TESCO has introduced “magic tills” in a huge change that will end annoying “unexpected item in the bagging area” moments.
The supermarket giant is trialling the new technology which means customers don’t have to scan items at self service tills.
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The new system uses sensors and cameras and assigns each customer a virtual shopper to track all items selected into a basket.
Customers will be able to walk up to a checkout with their items before being “magically” presented with a list on the screen of everything in their basket.
Shoppers will then be able to check their list is correct before paying for their goods.
Store staff must ensure they are accurately restocking the shelves but mistakes can be fixed at the checkout.
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Sarah Quiggin, head of store customer experience, said: “This is about cutting out some of the challenges around scanning.
“Sometimes there can be issues with certain barcodes and products.
“The alert for an ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’ is a classic one that customers get frustrated about, understandably.
“With the ‘no-scan’ tills, you turn up to the checkout and you pay.”
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It has been introduced in a branch in Hammersmith, London, The Sunday Times reported.
Tesco opened if first GetGo store in central London in 2021, offering its first checkout-free service.
Customers check-in to the Tesco store on an app, pick up the groceries they need and can walk straight out without visiting a checkout.
The supermarket giant currently has four GetGo stores located in London – Aston University, Chiswell Streeet, Fulham and High Holborn.
The latest change means that shoppers will no longer need to download or use the app in order to shop in the store.
It comes after as supermarket chain Booths is to axe almost all of the self-service tills in its stores.
It said the decision was in response to feedback from customers.
The shift is the first by a UK grocer of a significant size, bucking a trend that has seen all of the major players open thousands of self-checkouts and dramatically reduce the amount of staffed checkouts.
Booths, an upmarket supermarket chain, said it believed staff serving customers delivered a better customer experience.
It therefore taken the decision to remove self-checkouts from all but two of its 28 stores.
