Walmart Expands iPhone Self-Checkout System to Over 200 Stores

Posted by Rounak Jain on Mar 20, 2013 | Comments (11)

Following a successful trial run of its “Scan and Go” iPhone self checkout system in select stores, Walmart is expanding the program to over 200 retails stores, up from the current 70 outlets. The expansion will bring the feature to 12 additional markets.

The self checkout system, as the name suggests, lets customers scan bar codes on products they intend to buy using the Walmart app on iPhones or iPads. Once they’re done with their purchases, they can proceed to paying for the goods at a self-checkout station.

From Reuters’ report:

“We want our customer feedback to dictate the experience,” Gibu Thomas, senior vice president of mobile and digital at Walmart Global eCommerce, said this week. “You’ll see this roll out to more markets.”

For now, “Scan & Go” only works on Apple Inc devices. An Android version should be out soon, Walmart said.

The company notes that more than half of the program’s participants have been repeat users, meaning that they’ve tried the checkout option more than once.

scan and go walmart

The markets that will soon be getting Scan and Go are:

Denver, Colorado; Phoenix, Arizona; Omaha, Nebraska; Dallas and Austin, Texas; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Wyoming; Bozeman, Montana; Seattle, Washington; San Jose, California; and Portland, Oregon.

The report notes that though the scanning process is done on mobile devices, the payment still has to be done via traditional means at self-checkout stations. The idea of payments being done right on a mobile device is a natural next step, but Walmart declines to comment on when mobile payments would be added to the system.

If you live in one of the 12 areas, you can try out the Scan and Go system at your nearest Walmart store by downloading the Walmart iOS app.

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Categories : iOS Apps, iPhone Apps


  • Dunk

    I am confused about how they keep people from stealing everything. Do they weigh the entire cart at the end? What if somebody has a baby in the cart and it causes the cart to weigh heavy.

    • Apel P

      trust, nothing more

    • Apel P

      Just kidding. It’s because you still pay at the register at the end.

      • Dunk

        That doesn’t solve the problem. You could put 20 things in your cart and only scan 10. Then only pay for those 10 as you checkout. Unless the shopping cart is weighing items or there is a large cart scale I don’t know how they solve it. Just curious. Engineering mind forces me to ask why or how.

        • broncs

          You still have to bag the items at the self checkout when paying that’s where the weight verification is performed.

          • sneaky

            But you still can scan a cheaper item weighing the same then swap it

  • http://www.facebook.com/rfmanning Robert Manning

    Just used the WalMart app at the local Mesa, AZ market. Only had 3 items. Worked like a charm. Good job guys, will use it again.

    • http://www.iphonehacks.com iPhoneHacks

      That’s cool.

  • http://twitter.com/TwritterSux twrittersucks

    what a nice way of cutting cost on clerks.

  • Norman Zhong

    I think Walmart planed to move to NFC tech. I don’t know when all the merchandises will have the chip built in. One day, all you need to do is push the cart through, and the total prices and the list of each items will show up in the register. All you need to do is “Scan the QC code and pay with your cell phone”. Well, they are half way there now

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1740590440 Abel Goddard

    I’m definitely curious to try it out here in Dallas. Not sure how it works, but it sounds like the people that did it liked it.