Carrefour Poland has launched its pioneering “Scan&Go” service embedded in its shopping application, which enables self-service product scanning as well as in-app payments with Masterpass, all in a customer’s own smartphone. The solution, designed to eliminate queues at cash registers and improve customer experience, has just concluded a pilot stage and is going to be gradually launched in Carrefour stores across Poland.

Smartphones to replace cash registers and wallets

The new “Scan&Go” service is part of the “My Carrefour” mobile app, which until now was mainly used to manage Carrefour’s loyalty program. The app’s new functionality allows customers to scan product barcodes in store aisles using the smartphone’s camera. The value of all scanned products is automatically added up and displayed within the app so that consumers have real-time control over the amount they are about to spend on their shopping.

To finalize the purchase, consumers using the “Scan&Go” service can choose between a payment card, Masterpass for a quick and convenient cashless payment, or cash as their payment option. Masterpass by Mastercard, simplifies the checkout process with one secure account by allowing users to use multiple participating credit or debit cards encoded in a “digital wallet”. The Masterpass account comes with multi-tiered security. This includes the use of unique values (i.e. transaction tokens, card identifiers) enabling payment without the necessity to handle actual card details, bringing another layer of protection.

Ultimately, the new “Scan&Go” service with Masterpass is designed to allow customers to check out in a Carrefour store without having to go through a physical check-out register at all.

“Neither consumers nor retailers want to spend time and attention on handling payments. All in all, shopping, not paying, is the reason why consumers go to a store. That is why shopping solutions of the future will be automated and guarantee customers seamless and secure payments within a blink of an eye” – says Bartosz Ciołkowski, head of Mastercard Poland. “Mastercard’s opinion polls confirm that Polish consumers are very open to new technological solutions, which let them shop faster and more conveniently. Therefore, we believe that Carrefour’s ‘Scan&Go’ service with Masterpass will be well received and will help Poland pave the way for consumers and retailers in other countries.”

“Already over one third of Poles make mobile payments, which means using a smartphone or a tablet. It is obvious that with the growth of the mobile technology market and more young customers in our consumer database, this percentage will grow” – says Marcin Olech, Marketing, Digital and Financial Services Director at Carrefour Polska. “With “Scan & Go”, we want to guarantee that they can visit Carrefour stores and shop and pay the way they want. Quick and safe.”

Consumers open to automated in-store solutions

According to the opinion poll commissioned by Mastercard among Polish consumers[1], respondents are happy to use automated shopping solutions. This is because they realize it helps them reduce the waiting times spent queuing – the most frustrating aspect of everyday shopping. For example, the majority (61%) of respondents prefer cashless payments, especially contactless ones, over cash, as they believe that this speeds up customer service at cash registers. Also, they are willing to use new checkout solutions, such as self-service cash registers or scanning products on their own with the use of a smartphone or a retailer’s barcode reader. Over half of respondents (52%) would like to try fully automated solutions, which allow to skip the cash register.

Mastercard’s survey also confirms that more and more consumers use their smartphones in a store. Already 1/3 of respondents in Poland do it on regular basis, mainly to: read a shopping list (78%), look for information about products (74%), compare prices (70%), check recipes (58%) or pay mobile (47%). This proves that the smartphone is becoming a universal and increasingly popular shopping tool for consumers. At the same time, it gives retailers an opportunity to reach out to their customers in new ways and present them with personalized offers.