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No-one knows more about the pain of queuing than the tired shopper with a pile of items in his basket, staring in dismay at a never-ending line of people at the checkout.
But now there may be a way to do away with checkout queues altogether.
Start-up firm QueueHop has created a new app of the same name that allows people to scan and pay for items without the hassle of queues – with help from the makers of Twyst (an app that allows customers to get cashback every time they order food online).
Using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, the app aims to get shoppers to scan and pay for items from basically anywhere in the store.
The system would require QR codes (matrix barcodes) on the merchandise and shopping bags that contain RFID tags as an anti-theft device. And of course, the store would have to allow the sale of goods through QueueHop.
All the shopper would have to do is scan the code, pay for the items and place them on RFID-enabled shopping bags before leaving the store.
And all the data from the purchase – such as receipts, reward points and loyalty cards – will be stored in the app for future use.
The upside? This all sounds like your dream shopping scenario.
The downside? There’s no-one to wish you “Have a good day” from the other side of the till as you leave the store.
