C-Store customers are known for being in-a-hurry and not happy about waiting in lines. So now 7-Eleven has an app for that. As the following Digiday article reports, the mega C-store chain is testing a mobile self-checkout and pay app in some of its Dallas area stores.
7-Eleven is making more moves to go cashierless — or at least give customers the option to. Starting Monday, 14 stores in Dallas will have scan-and-go technology built in the company’s mobile app, so customers can scan and pay for items on their phones.
“Scan & Pay” is meant to build customer loyalty in the 7-Eleven brand by allowing customers to skip lines and the headaches that come with them, said Gurmeet Singh, chief digital officer and chief information officer at 7-Eleven. When a customer is near one of these 7-Eleven stores, the Scan & Pay feature will automatically appear within the 7-Eleven rewards app, available on Apple or Android.
When shopping, customers scan barcodes of items and pay directly through their phones, either with a card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, applying any rewards to their purchases. Upon leaving these stores, customers scan a QR code in the store to confirm they paid.
It’s the latest big retailer to enable its own scan-and-go mobile capabilities, while giant companies like Amazon and Walmart-owned Sam’s Club go cashierless, where customers no longer even have the option to wait in line. Amazon is building out its line of Amazon Go stores and Sam’s Club opened its first cashierless store last week. As of now, cashiers are still present at 7-Elevens and still have to handle hot food items and items like alcohol that require ID to purchase.
Mercator has been bullish on mobile self-checkout since before Amazon Go days. Besides Amazon Go, there are now others who offer a mobile self-checkout option for consumers, including Sam’s Club, some regional grocers, and now 7-Eleven. Small footprint stores with grab-and-go, frequent traffic are ideal for this form of mobile payment. The interesting part about 7-Eleven is that it is integrating the feature into its existing mobile app, that enables a more convenient customer experience. Also noteworthy is that the non-Amazon Go systems rely on bar and QR-codes, that represent a more cost-effective option for merchants. 7-Eleven will be a reliable test model for other C-stores to watch closely.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Director, Merchant Service at Mercator Advisory Group