Welcome to a world without checkouts

No tills, no queues and no more cashiers — as Tesco opens its first ‘autonomous’ grab-and-go store in Holborn, is frictionless shopping the future of the high street, or just a new high-tech gimmick? Katie Strick goes on a smart supermarket sweep

- Katie Strick

LAST time I walked out of a shop without paying, I had to make a red-faced trip back to Boots. This time — at a Tesco Express by Chancery Lane — I find myself being congratulated.

“How did you find it?” asks an excited staff member standing by the barriers. “Keep walking and you’ll get the receipt in a couple of minutes,” another tells me encouragingly as I clutch my brown paper bag. Seconds after walking out, a Monzo notification tells me I’ve spent £15.52, quickly followed by the Tesco app announcing I’ve saved £1.89. I won’t be done for shoplifting after all.

Tesco GetGo, a 2,000 sq ft smart store, opened in High Holborn last week and it’s a brave new world. Customers must tap through a Tube-style barrier using a QR code on the Tesco app before filling a (free) paper bag with items and walking out. A receipt pops up on your phone within minutes (in my case, nine seconds) of exiting the store.

The magic behind the till-free tech lies in a series of cameras and weight-sensors provided by Israeli startup Trigo, which track what you buy — a similar technology to that used at the six cashier-free Amazon Go stores in the capital (the first opened in March).

Tesco chose Holborn for its GetGo trial for its busy central London location near tech-savvy office workers.

Rivals are hot on their heels. Morrisons is said to be testing a till-free concept at its Bradford head office, and Aldi has announced a checkout-free store in Greenwich. Sports chain Decathlon is already fitted with sensor-led self-checkouts and last year brought in a Scan & Go payment service that uses customers’ phones. Sainsbury’s launched a similar SmartShop service two years ago, whereby customers scan items as they walk around the store.