The East of England Co-op stumps up £600,000 for Trust Retail powered self-checkouts push
The East of England Co-op says it has invested over £600,000 in a project to replace all its existing self-checkouts (SCOs) across its Food store estate with new units from Trust Retail.
The SCOs were piloted in the retailer’s Food store on Vernon Street in Ipswich, where, it says, the technology has already improved transaction efficiency and customer satisfaction.
The roll-out is being supported by software and IT company QCom and will standardise the East of England Co-op's self-checkout experience.
Beyond a more modern look and improved customer experience, Trust Retail’s SCO solution has the potential to improve the retailer’s shrinkage through in-built camera technology, as well as headset integration for colleagues and age verification technology, both to help reduce customer waiting times.
Rob Smith, Technology Officer for the East of England Co-op, ysas: “Using technology to improve the customer experience in our Food stores is incredibly important to us. This partnership with Trust Retail alongside a substantial investment from the business ensures that we’re doing just that as well as providing technology that can create further efficiencies and compliance improvements in the future.”
The SCOs will also support the East of England Co-op's commitment to supporting local communities, with the ability for members and customers to be able to donate directly to the retailer’s community programmes.
Business process specialist MiTEQ has supported the retailer with the procurement process. The deployment began at the end of September and is scheduled to be rolled out across the Food store estate by the end of 2025.
2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS
SCOs were a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
We received a record number of entries and many fantastic examples of the continued resilience and dynamism of the retail space during hugely challenging times.
For a full rundown of all of the shortlisted entries, click here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC in Central London on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
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