Coronavirus hit European retailers ramp up scan and go investments

Two-thirds of European retailers believe self-scanning solutions will give consumers confidence to return to physical stores after coronavirus lockdowns, according to research by Scandit.

This involved 116 respondents across Benelux (15), CEE (15), DACH (6), Italy (20), the Nordics (14), Spain (24) and the UK (22), with an average company size of 27,000 employees, and Euro 8.8 billion average revenues.

There's been a huge uptick in self-scanning over the last year. 📈

Today we release our research into how much...https://t.co/03UnHGgxDc
— Scandit (@Scandit) February 1, 2021

58.7% said they either already offer, or are working on deploying self-scanning options, to consumers shopping in-store (37.9% and 20.8% respectively).

“Contactless retail was already becoming a trend before the pandemic - now it’s the new reality. Since Covid-19, some of our grocery customers have seen the number of mobile app-based scan and go transactions in their stores double or more,” says Samuel Mueller, CEO at Scandit.

“At the best of times, shoppers prefer not to have to queue at the checkout, and the ability to quickly grab what they need and get on with the rest of their day is appealing.”

“The simplicity and speed of mobile self-scanning on a customer’s own smartphone makes this possible while maintaining distance from others, providing added confidence when shopping. These research findings point towards a steep acceleration in demand for exactly this type of experience.”