Walmart has revamped its failed 'Scan & Go' checkout program — but with a twist (WMT)
- This is an excerpt from a story delivered exclusively to Business Insider Intelligence E-Commerce Briefing subscribers.
- To receive the full story plus other insights each morning, click here.
Walmart shuttered its "Scan & Go" checkout program — which enabled shoppers to scan their items with a smartphone app and skip the checkout line by paying through the app and showing a digital receipt to an employee before exiting — in the US in May 2018.
Walmart Canada also scaled back the program to just three stores in November 2018 per CBC News. Now, Walmart Canada has launched a similar program at a new store, but with a twist: It will now feature a "Fast Lane" with bright and noticeable branding, where consumers who've scanned their items with Walmart's app can scan a barcode from the app to check out before showing their receipt to a store employee, according to Business Insider.
Here's what it means: Adding a specific checkout lane does little to account for the issues that led to Scan & Go's demise.
- Scan & Go struggled to gain adoption, potentially because it offloaded labor to consumers, and that problem remains. In these scanning programs, shoppers are asked to scan all of their items themselves — something they don't have to do on a traditional shopping journey — and still need to stop and show an employee a receipt before they leave. So, while these self-scanning programs aim to make shopping faster by eliminating waiting in a checkout line, the additional work consumers have to do likely makes them less attractive. And the Fast Lane actually adds a step by requiring users to scan a barcode to check out, further negating the convenience of the experience.
- Theft was also a problem for Scan & Go because it created new opportunities for consumers to take products without checking out, intentionally and unintentionally. Even though consumers must show their receipts to employees before they leave, those associates likely aren't going to check each item, so there's always a chance that the consumer forgot to scan an item or purposefully stuck one in their bag. Fast Lane doesn't add any features to combat this problem, so issues with theft are likely to persist.
The bigger picture: Despite its issues, the branding and in-store presence of Walmart's Fast Lane could draw attention and be a good blueprint for future checkout-free innovations.
Fast Lane creates a dedicated space for Scan & Go, complete with bright colors and clear branding, potentially driving awareness and usage. This is most valuable for shopping innovations that are attractive to consumers, so as long as it's attached to Scan & Go, Fast Lane may not be very impactful.
But as retailers develop autonomous checkout technologies that lead to shopping experiences like that of Amazon Go, mimicking Fast Lane's presentation — complete with messaging about its value and how to use it — may convince consumers to test them out and better understand how to do so.
Interested in getting the full story? Here are two ways to get access:
1. Sign up for the E-Commerce Briefing to get it delivered to your inbox 6x a week. >> Get Started
2. Subscribe to a Premium pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to the E-Commerce Briefing, plus more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now