TORONTO, ON - Is there anything more daunting for perspective shoppers than holiday checkout lines? Just in time for the seasonal rush, Loblaw is piloting an app that could serve to take that hinderance off the table.

Introducing a new shop-and-scan technology that takes self-checkout to the mobile level, the retailer rolled the app out in five stores in the greater Toronto area, according to CTV News.

“We’ve heard from customers that they’re looking for a more convenient way to shop, and this allows them to use their own mobile device to check pricing and scan in their groceries,” Catherine Thomas, Senior Director, External Communication at Loblaw Companies Limited, wrote in an email to the news source. When it comes to how or if the app will affect cashier jobs, Thomas said that “at this point, we do not expect any changes in our workforce.”

When it comes to produce items such as fruits or vegetables, which are priced on weight, participating stores will provide digital scales, while items with barcodes can be scanned and placed into the shopping cart as consumers make their way through the store. All that is needed is an internet connection on a phone and the PC Express app.

Consumers won't see what Thomas explained as a “real-time total of their purchase” until they are ready to check out, when the app will create an item total barcode.

Here is where customers can choose a more or less traditional route: bringing the total barcode to either a traditional cashier lane, self-scan checkout, or at the new kiosks specially designed for the app. The long-term goal is to have the self-checkout line be bypassed completely, the source noted, with an in-app purchase system.

Current test locations include Queen Street and Portland Street, Leslie Street and Lakeshore Boulevard, Forest Hill, Maple Leaf Gardens, and Glen Erin in the GTA, with upcoming pilot locations in Ontario expected in Milton, Oakville, and on Argentia Road in Mississauga.

Loblaw