Pret is aiming to cut out queues in its stores with a trial of new technology enabling customers to pay for their food and drink using electronic shelf-edge labels.
The trial at its Houndsditch store in London is aimed at time-pressed city workers who need to grab their food to go in a hurry.
The area is popular with workers in the financial sector and Pret is believed to be planning a wider rollout if the scheme is a success.
Using a new app, customers in the trial can either tap their phone to the electronic shelf-edge labels or add products to a virtual basket, and then pay for their products at a Scan & Go point in the store.
The plans are part of a bid by Pret to take a leap forward in the use of digital tech in its stores.
As well as the electronic shelves, the app allows customers to order table service and they can select their favourite coffee, personalise it with extra shots, flavoured syrups or particular milks and choose a time in the future to collect it from a designated collection counter.
The electronic shelf technology is provided by SFD Systems, which has worked previously with retailers including Morrisons and M&S on the technology.
An IGD analyst described the move as a potential “game changer”.
“Pret may be slow to the digital party but a large-scale rollout of new tech could be a game changer for customers and the wider food-to-go market,” he said.
Pret’s move comes with major retailers also trialling checkout-free technology.
Among them Tesco is experimenting with a checkout-free, Amazon Go-style concept store at its Welwyn Garden City HQ, after a tie-up Israeli startup Trigo. It allows customers to pick up items, walk out of the shop and have their pre-registered card billed.
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