Sports retailer Decathlon has incorporated RFID tags into products at its first physical store in the US. The superstore, in Emeryville, California, uses the technology along with iPhones held by shop assistants to enable customers to checkout at Mobile Checkout stations around the shop easily and quickly.

Rather than having to queue at a fixed cash desk, customers let an assistant know that they want to pay.

The assistant puts the customer’s physical shopping basket inside an RFID-enabled mobile checkout station, scans a QR code on the station, and the contents of the basket are transferred to a virtual shopping bag on an app on the assistant’s iPhone.

The transaction can then be completed within the app using Apple Pay, a gift card, a credit card or via NewStore Checkout payment technology.

NewStore Checkout does not require payment terminals or credit card readers; shoppers use their iPhone camera to scan a QR code on the shop assistant’s device and checkout with Apple Pay.

The checkout system is connected to store security systems to ensure items that have been paid for do not set off security alarms when a customer leaves.

“Decathlon is effectively turning its associates into a point of sale, simplifying even the most complex retail workflows and unlocking tremendous value for the customer and Decathlon alike,” says NewStore CEO Stephan Schambach.

Decathlon is also using RFID with fixed self-checkout terminals in its flagship store in Singapore.

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