Portuguese supermarket chain Continente has opened its first autonomous cashierless store in Lisbon, enabling customers to use a QR code generated in the company’s Labs app to access the shop and automatically pay for their purchases from their mobile phone without needing to scan their goods or use a checkout.

The Continente Labs store uses a combination of cameras and sensors to track each customer’s purchases, adding them to a “virtual basket” or removing an item if a customer replaces it on the shelf.

Customers then pay for their purchases and receive an electronic invoice as they leave the store via the retailer’s own Continente Pay digital wallet.

“Anyone can enter the new store as long as the Continente Labs App is installed on their mobile phone (compatible with Android and iOS),” the retailer explains. 

“The Continente Labs App uses the registration in the Continente Card App to allow access to the store, which is one of the mandatory conditions for access. 

“You will also need to have the Continente Pay Card App with Continente Pay, which allows you to make automatic payments on your mobile phone and activate the electronic invoice.”

A short video shows the how the cashierless store works.

The Lisbon store is the first to implement a system developed by Portuguese technology provider Sensei and is among the first autonomous cashierless stores to open in the European Union.

Dutch supermarket giant Albert Heijn opened its first autonomous mini supermarket in September 2019 and French retail chain Monoprix began testing an automated self-service store using AI-based product recognition in October 2020.

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