Fujitsu Frontech Introduces Scan-as-You-Go Self-Service Retail Solution

Fujitsu Frontech North America is launching a new U-Shop app that is designed to improve the self-service experience for retail shoppers. The app would allow customers to use their phone to scan the items they intend to purchase while moving through the store. When they are ready to leave, they would then be able to use that same phone to help pay for those items at a self-checkout station.

The Scan’n’Go feature is compatible with iOS and Android devices, and completely negates the need to make physical contact with the touchscreen when using a Point of Sale terminal. As a result, the U-Shop app could enable a contactless shopping experience and help improve public health outcomes in retail both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

U-Shop is part of Fujitsu Frontech’s broader Self-Service Simplified (S3) portfolio, which provides retailers with the hardware and software tools they need to deliver self-service options to their customers. That technology can be deployed on their own, or it can be integrated into a store’s existing self-service payment ecosystem.

“Frustration creates lost business. Our digital solutions suite drives adoption by delivering the intuitive experience today’s customers expect directly on their own devices,” said Fujitsu Frontech North America President and CEO Michi Sugawara. “U-Shop eliminates the learning curves associated with typical self-service technologies while helping retailers improve operational processes with little to no impact on their existing in-store infrastructure.”

U-Shop should help meet the demand for contactless shopping experiences, which increased in the wake of COVID-19. Fujitsu itself is working with Zippin to create a separate solution that would get rid of traditional checkout terminals. The solution is currently being tested at a concept store in Japan, and allows customers to pay with face or palm vein biometrics.

Fujitsu Frontech, meanwhile, bolstered its own biometric portfolio with the acquisition of Fulcrum Biometrics in April of 2020.

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February 4, 2021 – by Eric Weiss