Standing in line at Walmart will soon be a thing of the past. After years of only gracing iPhone users with the option of paying as you with the Walmart Scan & Go app, the retail giant has finally rolled out the 21st century way to pay for Android owners, too. But before you get too excited, there is a caveat — for the time being, the Android app is in its testing phase, so it only works at Walmart No. 5260, otherwise known as your friendly Rogers, Arkansas location.
When it — hopefully — rolls out to more stores, however, customers will be in for a treat. Scan & Go allows you to scan an item’s UPC code as you remove it from the shelves and place it in your shopping basket. When you’re done, simply pay via the app, and you’ll get a receipt in return. As you head for the exit, simply show it to the security guard or designated Walmart employee at the door and be on your merry way.
Now, as grand of an idea as this may seem, there are also plenty of opportunities for something to go wrong. Will simply showing a receipt really be proof enough of purchase, or enough of a deterrent for theft? And even if we can answer both these questions in the affirmative, will it actually be faster than standing in a checkout lane?
This isn’t the first time such an app has been introduced in a retail location. Last summer, Walmart subsidiary Sam’s Club debuted its own version of the Scan & Go app, though it also kept it to just a few locations. However, since its August release, there hasn’t been much word on how useful the app has been.
Looks like only time will tell if Walmart’s version is any better.
