Especially in the run-up to Christmas there are long queues at the cashiers. This costs the customers time and the retailers money, because many customers decide against the purchase due to the long waiting time. Saturn is the right solution: Since the beginning of the year, offers for mobile self-checkout have been tested. With "SATURN Smartpay", payment by smartphone is being introduced in the world’s biggest consumer electronics store in the old town of Hamburg.

Saturn has already successfully tested various cashierless payment options in Innsbruck and Munich and is now taking the next step with its new pilot project at its store on Mönckebergstrasse in Hamburg. This is the first time that the technology has been installed throughout an existing store. Apart from just a few exceptions, the more than 100,000 products in the biggest consumer electronics store in the world can be picked up and paid for. “The smartphone has become many people’s remote control for life. Therefore, it’s only logical that it will also be used to make payments in the future, especially with this development being accelerated by new mobile payment offerings such as Google Pay and Apple Pay,” explained Martin Wild, Chief Innovation Officer of the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group. “The very positive response from customers to our first pilot projects in Innsbruck and Munich has encouraged us to offer mobile self-checkout across a large floorspace for the first time. Our customers in Hamburg will thus benefit from an even better shopping experience and an additional innovative payment option when doing their Christmas shopping.” This pilot project adding yet another service to Saturn’s shopping experience has been scheduled to run until the end of February 2019.

Pay by smartphone in four easy steps

Scanning and paying for products with SATURN Smartpay is child’s play. Customers just open the app, choose and scan the items they want, pay with their smartphone, and have the security tags deactivated at the Smartpay express counter at the store’s exit. The Smartpay app can be downloaded onto Android and iOS devices in the respective app stores. Registration is quick and easy. Then the barcode or the electronic shelf label of the item desired can be scanned using a smartphone’s camera or alternatively the digital price tag can be touched by an NFC-enabled smartphone to log the item. Once the shopping cart is full, customers can pay by credit card or PayPal, and from mid-December also by Google Pay. Apple Pay will also be integrated following its official launch in Germany. Having paid, customers receive their digital receipt by email. All they have to do now is have the security tags of their purchases deactivated at the Smartpay express counter before walking out of the store.

Another collaboration with MishiPay

As with the SATURN Express pilot project in Innsbruck, Saturn is again using software from the British start-up MishiPay for SATURN Smartpay in Hamburg. The company took part in the first batch of MediaMarktSaturn’s Retailtech Hub accelerator. Mustafa Khanwala, CEO and co-founder of MishiPay, had this to say: “Following the joint opening of Europe’s first cashierless consumer electronics store in Innsbruck at the start of the year, we’re very excited to continue working with MediaMarktSaturn bringing MishiPay's scan, pay and leave technology to Saturn Hamburg - the largest consumer electronics store in Europe. As MishiPay continues to grow, this is the next step in our mission to bring the best of the online checkout experience to physical stores in order to make the shopping experience even more convenient for customers.”

Successful pilot project in Innsbruck

The results of the first pilot project in Innsbruck are quite impressive: More than 30,000 visitors from all over the world took advantage of the new system and the Austrian Saturn Express scored points with its time savings, innovative shopping experience and friendly expert advice. That pays off: Nine out of ten customers would recommend Saturn Express to their friends and acquaintances.

Several cooperations in the Retailtech Hub

MediaMarktSaturn cooperates in the Retailtech Hub with several companies that deal with cashierless payment because the systems are suitable for different areas of application. So the MishiPay system is especially suitable for products that are purchased in small quantities and their value is not too high. Another system comes from the founders of Rapitag. Rapitag has revolutionized the traditional methods of electronic article surveillance in retail by using the world’s first patented anti-shoplifting system which customers can open themselves by means of smart materials. This new IoT protection prevents both shoplifting and the unauthorized opening of a product in the store. Products can only be opened with a digital key, which is transmitted by the customer’s smartphone once payment by Bluetooth is successful. After activation, the customer simply places the security tag in a special container on the shelf so that it can be used again.

SATURN Smartpay-Apps:

- iOS   

- Web App  

- Android   

The video about Saturn Express: