Sainsbury’s launches UK’s first till-free grocery store

Sainsbury’s is launching the UK's first till-free store at its Holborn Circus branch to allow customers to pay through their phones.

Customers can use the Smartshop app to scan groceries as they go round the store, pay in the app and scan a code before leaving to confirm payment.

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The store, which has been chosen as 82 per cent of payments at the London branch are currently cashless, has been refurbished to remove all tills and self-checkouts in a three-month experiment.

The in-app payment technology is available in seven other Central London stores, in Blackfriars, Mansion House, Paternoster Square, Shoreditch, Clapham North, Clapham High Street and Clapham Old Town, however, the Holborn branch is the first to go completely digital.

Sainsbury’s group chief digital officer Clodagh Moriarty said: “We know our customers value their time and many want to shop as quickly as possible – technology is key to that.

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“This is an experiment rather than a new format for us – it hasn’t been done in the UK before and we’re really excited to understand how our customers respond to the app experience.

“We’ll be with our customers and colleagues all the way over the coming months, iterating continuously based on their feedback before we decide if, how and where we make this experience more widely.”