The British grocery store chain Tesco has unveiled a new contactless form of purchasing items, which is sometimes referred to as “frictionless” or such as Amazon’s Just Walk Out; which operate by outfitting the store with a plethora of cameras and sensors that monitor what customers place in their carts, and then when shoppers leave their purchases are automatically deducted from their bank accounts.

Tesco is slightly different. Their version requires customers to present their items to a self-checkout station, but the items do not need to be individually scanned, but instead provide a final confirmation of the order via the high-level security in the store, and then confirm the list on their Tesco app.

The company explained the process in a press release on November 23rd, which reads:


Tesco is trialing an exciting new technology innovation that means customers don’t need to scan their items at the checkout on self-service tills.

Customers at the Tesco Fulham Reach Express will be able to just walk up to the scan-free checkout and it will magically present them with a list of the products they have picked up, so they don’t have to spend any time scanning each item. They can check the list and then pay in the usual way.

There is no need to download or use the Tesco Grocery App to take advantage of the scan-free checkouts.

The cutting-edge technology is currently only available at the single GetGo store in Fulham and is part of a range of checkout solutions available to customers to make their shopping experience easier.

Some of the cameras watching overhead

The three other GetGo stores are located at High Holborn, London; Chiswell St, London and Aston University in Birmingham. They all offer a mobile GetGo option, where customers just pick items, scan the app and walk out, as well as traditional self-service or attended tills.

Customers who currently use the checkout-free option at the GetGo stores are sent a receipt for their purchases within a few minutes of leaving the store, but shoppers also always have the option to pay with cash at an attended till in each GetGo store.

The new scan-free option at Fulham Reach is a further option for customers who want to save time at the self-service till.

They just need to stand in front of the till and press ‘Get Started’ before checking their items and paying with a card. Colleagues will be on hand to help customers with any issues.

We are constantly searching for the perfect formula to make the shopping trip as seamless and convenient as possible. This trial of scan-free checkouts will add another option for customers in Fulham Reach to save time on scanning items and will reduce queuing in store.

We will be watching closely to see how customers react to this potential new option of having a list of their shopping presented to them automatically.

Sarah Quiggin, Head of Store Customer Experience, Tesco, said

Cited by Daily Mail, some British customers think the idea is great and much more convenient. For example, Charlie Hazlem, 28, a technician who lives nearby and has already shopped at this location multiple times already, said:

I think it’s great, it’s very convenient. I haven’t really thought about the impact it might have on staff, I guess there are still other roles that people can do that are needed in stores like this.

The first time I saw this type of paying system was in Uniqlo, the clothes store. I was absolutely mind-blown by it and how it made everything so much simpler.

But, overall, I think it should be rolled lout to more stores now to speed things up.

Jordan Appleyard, 24, an accountant who has lived for three months in the development near the Tesco, told the outlet:

I think this new way of paying is a good thing. I think more Express stories should have this, it makes things far simpler and more convenient.

I don’t notice the cameras too much. I guess it could be a bit creepy having them track all your movements, but it speeds things up at the end of the day. I think it also might deter shoplifters more, knowing that cameras are tracking you all the time.

The cameras don’t worry me too much, I hardly notice it and I think if you only pop into the store now and again it wouldn’t bother you at all. There are cameras everywhere now.

James Murfin, 45, a CEO of a business and who lives nearby, said: “The cameras don’t bother me honestly. There are a lot of CCTV cameras in this area anyway, I think everyone is just used to it now.”

But this tech has not been smooth sailing. Emily South, 27, an events manager who lives in the area, said:

I tried out the new scanning system and it didn’t work for me.

I didn’t get a receipt, and you need one with a separate barcode to get out of the store. The staff had to help me to leave. I hadn’t used this before so it was interesting to see how it worked.

When it works, I guess this would be very convenient and making shopping so much quicker. The cameras don’t bother me, but I haven’t really thought about staff losing their jobs or being replaced.


AUTHOR COMMENTARY

Boy, don’t you just love seeing this people complicit with living in the digital rat cage? My ‘o my are they fools.

The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.

Proverbs 26:16

Lazy people have answers for everything, and will always spend more effort trying to defend their slothfulness than actually doing the work; but we’ve gotten so ridiculous now to the point where even scanning your own items at the self-checkout is viewed as a nuisance and a chore, and “inconvenient.”

Of course, this is clearly paving the way for social credit scores, and eventually the mark of the beast itself (Revelation 13:16-18).

The WinePress has covered other similar instances to this already springing-up around the world:


[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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