Wegmans introduces shop-and-scan tool

Wegmans Food Markets has gone live with Wegmans SCAN, a mobile app aimed at helping customers check out faster.

After a successful test with employees, the free app became available to shoppers this week at Wegmans’ supermarket on East Avenue in Rochester, N.Y. Using the digital tool on their smartphones, customers can scan groceries as they shop, put them in their cart and/or reusable bags and then quickly pay for the items at any self-checkout station.

Wegmans said it plans a phased rollout of the Wegmans SCAN app to more stores, depending on the results of the public launch at the East Avenue store and customer feedback. The Rochester, N.Y.-based grocer operates 99 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts.

“As technology has evolved to enable more self-service, our customers are increasingly looking for options that save time and give them the ability to shop how they want,” Jack DePeters, senior vice president of store operations, said in a statement. “Regardless of how customers choose to shop with us, we’ll continue delivering the same level of incredible service that customers have come to expect. For more than a hundred years, it’s been the cornerstone of our business, and as we evolve in the digital age, that’s where it will stay.”

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To shop with Wegmans SCAN, customers must connect to the East Avenue store’s Wi-Fi network and link the app to their Shoppers Club account. They then scan product barcodes or key in PLU codes to ring up items as they shop. Scales are available throughout the store to enter weighed items. Shoppers Club discounts and clipped digital coupons are applied automatically, and customers can see a running total of their purchases as they shop with the coupon savings reflected. When finished shopping, they go to a self-service register and scan the self-checkout barcode on the screen to pay.

Wegmans noted that it introduced Wegmans SCAN in response to customer requests. The app is available for download at the Apple App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play store for Android devices.

“In market areas where similar technology is already available, customers have been asking us to offer it in our stores,” according to DePeters. “Mobile scan technology has been on our radar, but we know success only comes when the right technology is introduced at the right time, and that’s what we have with Wegmans SCAN.”