Spar will trial contact-free and cash register-free payments

Retail Partners Colruyt Group – Colruyt Group’s entrepreneurial division – is creating an app for Spar which allows customers to use their smartphones to scan and pay for their own groceries.

Smartphone to scan and pay for groceries

Spar’s Belgian stores are part of RPCG and the latter is now developing a contact-free payment app for its supermarkets. There will be a trial in a range of Spar stores in the first spring of 2018.

The app is co-developed with American FutureProof Retail and will provide a clear list of what is being scanned, display the total amount at all times and work in unison with Colruyt Group’s Xtra loyalty card.

No more lines at the cash register

Similar to Amazon Go, customers no longer have to wait in line at the cash register, because they can simply check out and pay with the smartphone. How that will actually work at a Spar store, still remains to be seen.

“We are thrilled to be part of RPCG’s innovation strategy enabling shoppers at Spar Colruyt Group stores to skip the checkout line,” says Di Di Chan, president of FutureProof Retail. He did assure that the app will be compatible with Spar’s current cash register system. No release date has been revealed as of yet.