Supermarket Retailer Rolls Out Self-Checkout Smartphone App

After a six-month pilot of the QThru self-checkout smartphone app at a Seattle-area supermarket, Myers Group will expand its use of the technology to other supermarkets and hardware stores it operates.

"We've been testing QThru at the IGA Ridge Supermarket in Snoqualmie, WA," said Tyler Myers, president of the Myers Group, which operates a dozen retail stores, including supermarkets, hardware stores and service stations. "We wanted to see how our customers embraced this alternative technology and it was enormously popular."

After retailers synchronize their products and pricing with the QThru cloud, customers download the smartphone app that allows them to scan items with their phones. To complete the checkout process, shoppers enter a previously stored passcode and scan a QR code at a checkout kiosk, which completes the transaction with their phone. The kiosk generates a receipt that is reviewed by a store employee at the door. QThru uses a cloud-based fully PCI-complaint secure storage facility to protect payment and personal information.

"QThru allows us to offer added value to our customers through exclusive announcements, events and coupons, and we plan to install it now at all of our grocery and hardware stores," said Myers.

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