Afcacia

Carrefour, the popular retailer in Kenya, has announced that it will be introducing a self-checkout service for its customers.

The move is aimed at reducing queues and speeding up the checkout process.

The announcement was made by the company’s Kenya Country Manager, Christophe Orcet, who joined the supermarket chain at the beginning of this month.

According to Mr Orcet, the self-checkout service has been available at Carrefour’s Westgate Mall location for some time and the company is now planning to expand the service to its other branches across the country.

He said, “We are always looking for ways to improve the shopping experience for our customers. By introducing self-checkout, we are hoping to reduce queues and make the checkout process quicker and more efficient.”

The self-checkout process is straightforward and easy to use.

Customers can experience it at the Westgate Carrefour Branch, and it only works for a maximum of 15 items. After shopping for items, customers can head to the self-checkout booth, which is branded and easy to identify.

At the booth, shoppers can select a checkout point with a scanner and a display, then press the ‘START’ button to begin scanning their items.

Mr Orcet explained, “Customers can scan and set aside items after scanning them to avoid capturing them twice. However, an attendant is available at the booth to help with any errors.”

Once all items have been scanned, customers should press ‘complete’ and choose their payment method. The retailer accepts a variety of payment methods, including card and mobile money (in this case, M-PESA).

The manager also advised customers to scan the QR code on the screen to earn points if they have registered for MyClub Card.

For M-PESA payments, customers will be asked to enter their M-PESA number, and a prompt will be sent to their screen for authentication using a PIN.

For card payments, customers should tap their card at the POS machine on the booth to process payment.

The self-checkout service is only available for 15 items or fewer and is currently only available at the Westgate mall. However, Carrefour plans to integrate more tech-based features into its platform in the future, which will be beneficial to customers.

Mr Orcet note, “We are constantly looking at ways to improve our services and make shopping easier for our customers. We will be introducing more tech-based features in the future to enhance the shopping experience.”