UK retailer The Co-operative Group (Co-op) is set to expand the availability of its pay-in-aisle technology trial to more than 30 food stores across England, Scotland and Wales.
The expanded trial is scheduled to go live by late August and will be offered alongside existing payment methods such as cashiers and self-scan tills.
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Co-op stores participating in the trial are located across London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and more.
The retailer made this move as it registered a decline exceeding 10% in the usage of notes and coins by customers over the past two years and an increase in the use of contactless cards and other payment methods.
As part of the trial, Co-op will process card operations using ACI Worldwide’s Universal Payments (UP) Merchant Payments solution and will secure payment data using point-2-point encryption (P2PE).
Co-op food retail support director Mark Pettigrew said: “We know that people adopt technology at different speeds, and while cash is here to stay it is clear that it is increasingly playing a lesser role in society.
“Retailers need to adapt and be agile, and this app builds added choice and convenience into the retail experience for our members and customers while appealing to new shoppers.
“People lead busy lives and, shoppers value their time. Whether it’s a train to catch or on the school run, this technology cuts queues and saves time.
“It can give our stores increased opportunity to replenish stock and increase product availability so we are at our best even at our busiest times, and enables customers to complete their shopping quickly and get on with the rest of their day and what matters most to them.”
First introduced in March 2018, the pay-in-aisle trial allows customers to scan products using the company’s app on their own device while shopping at the store and complete the transaction from their Apple or Google Pay accounts.
The company also offers Co-op Membership customers with a 5% reward when purchasing own-brand products by using pay-in-aisle technology.
