Sainsbury’s tests virtual queuing system

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The app will allow shoppers to remotely track their place in the queue

Sainsbury’s has begun testing a virtual queue system that will allow customers to remotely wait in line to shop in their stores.

Shoppers will be able to join the queue from a remote location, such as their car, using a smartphone app, avoiding the need to stand outside the store.

The trial began in five UK stores on Monday and will run until mid-August.

Experts say retailers need to find new ways to ease queues as the UK approaches fall and winter.

Sainsbury customers will be able to download the application to their smartphones from where they can monitor their situation.

Appetite for technology

Katherine Shuttleworth, a retail analyst and executive director of retail marketing agency Savvy, told the BBC that shoppers are looking for ways to alleviate the “new normal.”

“There is no doubt that the consumer appetite for simple technologies that make shopping more efficient has never been higher,” she said.

“Click-to-collect growth, with shoppers interacting with fewer people and therefore shopping with less risk, has exponentially limited not only to national food chains, but also to local farmer’s and grocery stores.”

The first stores to test the system will be Uxbridge, Pimlico and Newham Royal Wharf in London, Dome Roundabout in Watford and Leicester North.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said the test will determine whether the app can make purchases safer and more convenient for the customer.

The retailer also confirmed that it will continue to implement its free mobile payment scheme.

The system is currently running in over 75 stores, with 40 more planned for the end of the week.

Adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic means an additional £ 500 million for Sainsbury’sas the company invested in its digital services, hired more staff, and changed store locations.

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