Dive Brief:
- Convenience store chain Mapco opened its first checkout-free store on Thursday in Brentwood, Tennessee, according to a press release.
- The location, which features Grabango cashierless checkout technology, is one of an expected two Tennessee stores taking part in the pilot program, the retailer said when the partnership was first announced in February.
- Mapco joins c-store chains like Circle K, ExtraMile and BP in testing frictionless checkout options at select stores.
Dive Insight:
The newly upgraded store allows customers to use “one-second checkout,” according to the announcement, employing computer vision to track what they pick up as they move through the store. At the end, they scan a code from the Grabango app and their purchases are automatically paid for from their account. Then they can simply walk out.
"We're pleased to bring the time-saving benefits of Grabango's checkout-free solution to another partner, especially one as committed to their shoppers' experience as Mapco," said Will Glaser, CEO of Grabango, in the release.
The Grabango partnership is just one of Mapco’s experiments with alternative checkout options as c-stores look for ways to reduce labor costs while also testing out new ways to entice people into their stores.
In addition to self-checkout at new locations, there’s Mapco Scan, which is available at 50 stores and allows customers to scan purchases as they shop via the Mapco Scan app, then pay with their phone instead of using a traditional checkout.
According to the Grabango partnership announcement earlier this year, Mapco plans to implement the frictionless technology in another location that incorporates the company’s “store of the future” design, which includes a more efficient layout and modern details.
A Mapco spokesperson could not give a timeline on when the second store with the updated design would open.
Franklin, Tennessee-based Mapco operates more than 300 stores in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi.
