Walmart drops mobile scan-and-go technology

U.S. consumers say they want more convenience when shopping, but they turned their noses up at Walmart’s mobile scan-and-go shopping technology. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer says it is abandoning the technology at its U.S. stores.

The decision to drop the Scan & Go app comes four months after the retailer said it would expand testing of the technology to more than 100 stores.

But Michael Jaszczyk, CEO of GK Software USA, said in a statement he believes that Walmart’s dropping of the technology doesn’t mean the end of it.

“When self-checkout was introduced, adoption was poor. However, over time, the concept improved and usability increased,” Jaszczyk said. “Now, it is a loved and preferred checkout method by customers. I predict the same will happen with scan-and-go solutions. Walmart dropping its mobile scan & go service does not mean that the concept will go away. Instead, it will be optimized so that all systems are connected, overcoming the difficulty in handling certain clients for certain shopping trips.”

Jaszczyk said if retailers use a single underlying technology for all store touch points, customers will be able to start a transaction on one device, continue on another and finish on a third.

“They can create a shopping list on their mobile phone, scan additional items, use self-checkout for weight-based items and potentially pay in the app or at a traditional POS on all connected devices,” he added. “Offering more convenient services, like pre-scanning items at home through intelligent shopping lists or offering special bagging services, will help generate better acceptance of scan-and-go by customers in the future.”