H-E-B pilots app that enables customers to skip cashiers

On Feb. 14, San Antonio, Texas-based H-E-B debuted a mobile app called H-E-B Go that lets customers skip cashier lines, provides text message alerts and push notifications to users, and tracks users’ smart phone locations, according to an article in the San Antonio Business Journal. The technology is being piloted at two H-E-B stores in San Antonio.

H-E-B Go “mirrors in some respects the physical Amazon store concept whereby customers pay for goods via smartphones and leave the store without having a cashier scan items,” the article stated. App users must create an account and give permission for the retailer to access the smart phone’s location, which enables H-E-B to collect data on the customer’s shopping habits and preferences.