Leading UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's is running a mobile shopping trial in three stores with what it describes as a “limited number” of shoppers. The approach is based on shoppers using their smartphone’s camera to scan QR codes and barcodes, having first downloaded an app for the service. Two of the stores are in London and one in Hampshire.

The service is called Mobile Scan & Go and the supermarket claims it is “the first of its kind in the UK”, although it is unclear which aspect they are claiming as a first. The elements of the service appear to have been used previously.

Participants first download an app to their smartphone (either iOS or Android). And then register online their Nectar loyalty card and the store where they shop. Having registered, the participants log in to the app with their Nectar card details.

On entering one of the three Sainsbury’s stores, users scan a check-in QR code at the front of the store before they start shopping. They then scan the barcode on each item they want to buy using the camera on their smartphone before placing it in their trolley or basket. They then scan a checkout QR code before paying using cash or card.

However, the trial does not appear to involve mobile payments, in that participants use their mobile phones to scan items in the store but then pay using conventional means rather than a handset. It does not appear that the service is a mobile wallet.

Sainsbury’s presents the service's advantages as being that shoppers can instantly see savings they receive from offers and deals, plus the time they save by not having to unload their trolley at checkout.