Budgens outside with app hand

Source: Ubamarket

It was supposed to go live with the London stores in 2018 but was delayed due to issues with the EPoS system

Ubamarket’s Scan, Pay, Go app has launched in London for the first time with two Budgens stores.

The scan-as-you-go app officially went live with the sites this week in north London’s Islington and East Finchley. The launch date had originally been set for four years ago, in 2018, but the plan was “stopped in its tracks” due to integration issues with the EPoS system, according to Ubamarket CEO Will Broome.

The new tie-up now means shoppers can enjoy a “till-less” shopping experience. It works by navigating shoppers through the aisles to items on their shopping list.

Customers scan the products as they shop, and then check out by scanning a QR code in store – either on the wall or on a self-checkout screen – to connect to the tills in order to make an in-app payment.

Paul Gardner, who owns the Budgens stores, will also be the first retailer to take advantage of Scan, Pay, Go’s new feature, which facilitates exclusive app-only offers. This means retailers, wholesalers and suppliers can choose which items to offer app discounts for, helping to boost customer loyalty, Ubamarket added. Gardner is choosing 50 key items to place under the feature.

“It’s become a mainstream concept because it’s what Tesco is doing with Clubcard,” said Broome. “But our feature is simpler because you don’t have to sign up to anything. It just happens if you’re an app user.”

Some of Ubamarket’s other key retail partners are set to launch exclusive app-only offers in the next couple of weeks. 

Broome told The Grocer that a trial with Henderson across 13 company-owned Spar stores in Northern Ireland was also going well since launching 18 months ago. He said he was hoping to secure a deal that would see it rolled out across the wider group.

Because the app had to be integrated with Henderson Technology’s EdgePoS to carry out the trial, all retailers and groups using its EPoS system can also have access to the app.