Sainsbury’s launched the UK’s first till-free store at Holborn Circus on Monday.
The UK’s second largest supermarket said that from today customers will be able to pay exclusively using their smartphones through an app.
The London location was selected due to the high volume of cashless transactions at the store.
Sainsbury’s said that 82% of transactions in the Holborn convenience store are cashless.
Sainsbury’s Group Chief Digital Officer, Clodagh Moriarty, commented on the launch:
“We know our customers value their time and many want to shop as quickly as possible – technology is key to that. This is an experiment rather than a new format for us – it hasn’t been done in the UK before and we’re really excited to understand how our customers respond to the app experience.
We’ll be with our customers and colleagues all the way over the coming months, iterating continuously based on their feedback before we decide if, how and where we make this experience more widely available.”
Other stores also offer the app payment technology including Blackfriars, Mansion House, Shoreditch and Clapham High Street among others.
However, Holborn Circus is the only location to go completely digital.
Sainsbury’s will no doubt be trying to compete with competitors such as Lidl and Aldi, which have both continued to increased their market share in recent years.
However, digital retailer Amazon have led the way with regards to cashless stores, having already opened its first AmazonGo locations in Seattle and Chicago.
Sainsbury’s will also be looking to show investors that it has an innovative strategy going forward, particularly after its proposed merger with Asda was blocked by the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) last week.
Last Thursday, Chief Executive Mike Coupe expressed his disappointment over the decision.
He said in a statement:
“The specific reason for wanting to merge was to lower prices for customers. The CMA’s conclusion that we would increase prices post-merger ignores the dynamic and highly competitive nature of the UK grocery market. The CMA is today effectively taking £1 billion out of customers’ pockets.”
Shares in Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY) are currently up +0.36% as of 14:10PM (GMT).