AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS - Imagine this: you walk into a grocery store, take what you want, and then you leave. You heard me right, you walk out of there with the glowing pride of someone who hasn’t waited in a grocery store line. Ahold Delhaize’s newest format Albert Heijn to go is working to make your dreams of never waiting in a line again—at the grocery store at least—come true.
Albert Heijn to go just opened its first checkout-free store, which offers its customers speedy shopping and no wait-time. How is this possible, you might ask? Customers pay right at the source—or rather, the shelf—with a “tap to go” card or through an app on their phone. After a mere ten minutes, the purchase is debited from the customer’s account.
“This is absolutely a milestone for us,” said General Manager Jan-Willem Dockheer. “We want to offer our customers plenty of choice, quality, and convenience anytime and anywhere. With ‘tap to go,’ we really bring that convenience to the next level. Who waits in a line for fun?”
No one, I say!
In the first phase of the rollout, customers can tap their card or an Android phone to pay, a press release noted. As the technology rolls out to Albert Heijn to go’s 80 other convenience stores, other operating systems such as iOs and Windows will soon be included in the tap to go tech.
Amazon rocked the grocery world when it unveiled its Amazon Go format. Will other retailers follow suit? Will we soon never have to wait in a line again? AndNowUKnow will report on the latest in retail news.
