Also, semi-related, the Everyday Rewards membership no longer grants a monthly 10% discount at BIG W.
No one ever used this in my area. I never saw anyone at the gate, and on the few occasions I used it myself it always said “1 shopper in store” (me). I haven’t used Scan&Go for quite some time because I have been paying with discounted gift cards for several years now to save as much as I can.
However, Scan&Go did have one genuinely good use case that cannot be replicated with the trolleys and that was allowing you to grab your one or two items during peak hour (maybe a drink or snacks) and skip all the queues in store. It was super fast, but having to rely on the trolleys will slow that down and make it far more cumbersome.
Hard disagree. It’s awesome with a full shop. Scan item, put in trolley. Repeat 40-50 times. Then, tap a couple of buttons on my phone, scan a QR code at the gate and just leave. No hassle with checkouts - even self checkouts. The only bit that slows me down is putting fruit & vegies on the scale, but I get most of those elsewhere, so it isn’t too terrible.
Yeah it was reasonable with a larger shop, though it was an absolute pain having to wait for someone to check and scan 4 items (happened numerous times to me, including during peak hours where there was no staff member instantly available so we had to stand around waiting). My biggest problem was just that it wasn’t compatible with gift cards. As soon as I switched to those, I Scan&Go became about spending more to save a small amount of time and that wasn’t worth it to me. It was the equivalent of paying an $8 - $12 fee to use Scan&Go on a big shop.
I think you may have misunderstood what Ilandar was saying, but I’m not exactly sure how, because I don’t know which type of scan & go you’re talking about.
Part of this stems from the fact that there are two types of scan & go. The older, superior (IMO, and theirs) option of scanning with your phone, tapping a few buttons to pay on your phone, and walk out. Then there’s what they’re replacing that with, which is dedicated tablets that sit in the trolley.
Ilandar was talking about how, if you’re using a trolley anyway, there’s basically no difference (except that, going forward, you’ll have to pay at the gate, not on your phone—this is true even where Scan&Go mobile is sticking around). But if you’re only grabbing a couple of items, you now have to get a big cumbersome trolley anyway, or choose to go the old-school method of self checkout.
I probably do a majority of my shops either by hand or with a basket. 1–15 items or so, depending on their size. But by hand or a basket can’t do scan & go, anymore.
Then there’s what they’re replacing that with, which is dedicated tablets that sit in the trolley.
I have never seen this. I’ve just got the app on the phone.
Yeah I’ve never seen it myself. I’m not sure how widely it’s been rolled out yet.
We had a similar system at the supermarket I went, however it was some barcode reader you had to pick up at the entrance, but the system itself was nice as you could pack as you went, and when you were done you could just scan the QR code at the self-checkout terminal where it would upload all the stuff you scanned, then all you had to do was pay.
No need to fiddle with the temperamental self-checkout system, I’m sad it’s gone :(
Oh that’s a shame. Where was this, and when did they stop?
I quite like the idea of that option. Phone would be best, but I think the poor uptake scan & go had was probably because of the discovery problem. Most people don’t use the Woolies app, and those who do use it probably don’t notice the little “scan & go” option. But a wall of scanners right at the entrance is harder to miss. I’d have thought it should have much bigger uptake.
A supermarket chain named Metro in Quebec (Canada) did a test-run for more than a year then scrapped the project.
They decided to add more self-checkout machines instead…
I genuinely am devastated by this. Until a month ago, I lived somewhere that my two closest Woolies both had this, and it was such an enormous boon.
Having moved so now there aren’t any stores anywhere near me with it, I’m so frustrated at having to carry stuff to then bag it once I get to the checkout. Or worse, bag and then re-bag everything twice so I can carry it, and then scan it at the checkout. I thought Scan&Go was going to be the new thing added, just not until stores are getting refurbished anyway, as they do from time to time. But hearing it’s apparently being phased out really sucks. Such a step backwards.
I’d have been writing angry letters to Woolies, had they done this before I moved to where I can’t use it anyway…
The first time I tried to use the scan and go system, I got pulled up at the exit point and had to prove that I’d purchased the stuff. Wasn’t keen on being made to feel like they thought I’d robbed the place, so I never went back to it
I also got picked out for a random check a few times when I first started using it. After passing that process a few times, you seem to be trusted. I haven’t been picked out in years, now.
