Once customers have finished shopping they can pay from the app, which is linked to their credit card and Woolworths Rewards loyalty membership, rather than at a checkout. Woolworths' head of digital and payments, Paul Monnington, said customers were already using their phones to do everything from ordering an Uber to checking into flights, making "shop and go" a natural next step. “We’re getting feedback from customers who are busier and busier... and they’re using their mobile phones all the time," Mr Monnington said. Woolworths' digital and payments boss Paul Monnington (left) and Double Bay store manager Mathew Walsh. Credit:Anna Kucera “So we’re looking at actually making that shopping experience better and more convenient for them, and actually bringing the mobile into that world."

Woolworths sees two major potential benefits for customers: using the app to track how much they have spent as they shop to stay within budget, and being able to exit the store more quickly by not having to unpack and scan their items at a checkout. Woolworths is breaking new ground in Australia with the trial, but retailers elsewhere in the world like Amazon and China's Alibaba and JD are well advanced with "just walk-out" technology. And it will be commonplace in Australia in the not-too-distant future, according to retail expert Gary Mortimer, an associate professor at the Queensland University of Technology's school of business. Amazon has opened three Amazon Go stores in Seattle. Credit:Bloomberg “The future of retailing in general is constantly evolving as technologies improve, so this trial seems to be in response to global trends," Professor Mortimer said.

“One of the pain points shoppers often talk about is having to line up at the checkouts. This type of technology removes that element of the shopping experience completely and puts the power back into the consumer's hands." Loading As a final step before leaving the store, customers taking part in Woolworths' trial will swipe their phone on a "tap off" pole. That last step is not strictly necessary, but Mr Monnington said it was included after Woolworths' research found some customers felt uncomfortable walking out seemingly without paying. The "tap off" pole will turn green if the customer is good to go, or blue if staff need to check a customers' shopping for restricted items, or for a random checks to monitor whether customers are scanning items properly. Shoppers can also take their phone to a staffed checkout to pay.

Woolworths stressed that it has no plans to roll-out the Scan&Go technology beyond the Double Bay store, but hopes to learn whether customer like shopping that way, and how it fits in with its existing staffed and self-service checkouts. Like the self-serve checkouts Woolworths and Coles have introduced, "just walk out" technology creates a risk of theft, but Mr Monnington said Woolworths believed the majority of its customers would "do the right thing". Scan&Go has emerged from Woolworths' WooliesX division, which was formed last year bringing together its digital, e-commerce and customer loyalty teams to find ways to use technology like artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve its business. The trail also aligns with Woolworths' CEO Brad Banducci's view that "ultra-convenience" will be a major battle ground in its perpetual war for customers with Coles, and as a defence from new competitors ranging from Aldi to Amazon. The company has recently rolled out two-hour home delivery to 20 stores across Sydney, for example.