How Shoprite-Checkers is trying to change the way South Africans shop

Stephen Grootes speaks to Jonathan Cherry, founder of strategic foresight and innovation consultancy, Cherryflava Media about Checkers’ rollout of its Xpress smart trolley pilot and how the technology aims to improve the shopping experience.

Listen to the interview in the audio player below.

Xpress Trolleys are South Africa’s first “smart” shopping carts.

The smart trolley is part of the Shoprite/Checkers group's bigger plan to link its physical stores, apps and customer data into one connected system.

These are trolleys with screens attached to them, designed to help shoppers skip queues and have more control over what they’re buying and spending.

Shoppers scan their Xtra Savings card to log in. As items are picked up, they’re scanned and placed straight into the trolley. The screen shows the running total, product details and special offers.

When shopping is done, payment happens right on the trolley using a bank card linked to the customer’s Sixty60 profile.

The technology is being tested at two stores in Cape Town.

Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Jonathan Cherry, founder of Cherryflava Media says this type of technology needs to be backed by a culture of other similar technologies.

"It works if the culture allows it to work. In first world environments, yes. If you go to a supermarket in the Netherlands, it's very sophisticated and this kind of technology is easily adopted in that culture."

- Jonathan Cherry, founder - Cherryflava Media

"It's very much a culture thing. Culture dictates whether a technology takes off in a region. And I think in South Africa the vast amount of transactions in this region is still in cash."

- Jonathan Cherry, founder - Cherryflava Media

"I think there's value in exploring it. It would be an error to say well, it's too expensive. It's always going to be too expensive. A group like Shoprite-Checkers has always demonstrated that they are willing to invest money into these ideas."

- Jonathan Cherry, founder - Cherryflava Media

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.