STORE PROFILE
PREMIER HIGHTOWN CONVENIENCE, CONGLETON STEVE ARCHER
CHESHIRE RETAILER FIRST WITH JISP ‘SCAN & GO’ PREMIER HIGHTOWN CONVENIENCE STORE IN CONGLETON HAS BECOME THE FIRST STORE IN THE UK TO INSTALL JISP’S ‘SCAN & GO’ SOLUTION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NFRN.
Coronavirus has had a remarkable role to play over the last few months in accelerating the adoption of many new tech solutions, with the latest example being Steve Archer’s Premier store in Cheshire becoming the first UK site to implement a new ‘Scan & Go’ solution. The result of a ground-breaking partnership between tech providers Jisp and Scandit and the NFRN, the solution combines Jisp’s Scan & Go app with Scandit’s computer vision technology which turns everyday smartphones into powerful barcode scanners. The solution helps “convenience stores deliver the contactless service and digital relationships today’s customers expect”, say the partners. The Jisp app enables Scan & Go shopping instead of queuing at tills, provides Home Delivery and Click & Collect functionality, and also opens up new opportunities for digital engagement. The first store to implement the technology is Steve Archer’s Premier Hightown Convenience Store in Congleton which went live earlier this week. “Local retailers have played a significant role in serving their communities during lockdown,” says Steve. “The fact that our customers will now be able to simply scan and go in my store means that we can offer our customers an even safer environment. “Purely and simply, this technology levels the playing field. My store will be offering something that has previously
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only been available at the big supermarkets. So now we can show people we are positively enhancing our offering and it allows my little shop to compete with the big boys.” The technology was developed specifically for the convenience market and is aimed at the UK’s 46,000 or so convenience stores which have played a crucial role in helping communities during the Covid-19 pandemic. NFRN believes, however, that smaller retailers often struggle to market themselves to today’s ‘always-on’ shoppers, often lacking the skills, technology or resources to digitise and compete with larger supermarket chains. NFRN aims to have 500 independent retailers using the solution by the end of the year, with the app enabling them to “deliver competitive and frictionless Scan & Go shopping“ that will allow them to compete with larger retailers head-on. Paul Davis, Vice President of Sales at Scandit, says: “Independent retailers have always understood the value of