Shell trials IBM’s instant checkout

Shell is the first retailer to have trialled a new checkout solution from IBM which hopes to rival Amazon Go, removing the frustrating ‘unexplained item in the bagging area’ alert many self-service customers face today.

After a six week trial with selected customers at its Holloway Road store in North London, Shell plans to refine the technology and hopefully roll it out to a store for further customer trials by the summer.

The solution looks similar to a self-service checkout, but instead of scanning items, customers simply place products on the machine and RFID sensors instantly calculate a total price. Customers then use their Bluetooth-enabled mobile device to tap their phone against a reader and pay through a mobile application.