It's only been at the store since July 1 and according to Lauren, the cashier who is manning it today, it's proving very popular. (It does have an operator, allaying fears that lots of people will lose their jobs.)
Unlike ordinary scanners, which only emit a laser from one angle, the Rapid Scan is a 360-degree scanner, so can read the barcode on the item no matter how you place it on the conveyor belt - even if the barcode is on the base of the item because the conveyor belt is divided in one place and a laser comes up through the divide. This frees the operator to unload your basket for you, so you can be ready, waiting at the other end, to bag it up in no time.
The other reason the cashier unpacks for you is that if items are piled on top of each other instead of in a neat orderly line, the scanner could get confused.
It scans every item individually in less than one second - meaning it's capable of processing 100 per minute. With the average trolley containing 46 items, their new gadget is said to cut the average time to well under a minute. This immediately feels like less work and my shopping - 17 items including dishwasher tablets, milk, bread, bananas and red wine - whizz through quickly. In fact, the only downside for me was that I couldn't keep up, so I ended up with a slight logjam because I wasn't packing fast enough.
If I'd bought lots of soft products such as fruit or bread and they were followed by an avalanche of tins, that might annoy me. But while I might have felt the need to speed up to save my soft goods from squashing, I didn't have the 'packing pressure' you normally feel when someone is tapping their foot behind you in the queue.
'The Rapid Scan scans every item individually in less than one second - meaning it's capable of processing 100 per minute. With the average trolley containing 46 items, their new gadget is said to cut the average time to well under a minute'
Thanks to a double conveyor belt, the operator can serve the next customer as soon as you've paid - giving you time to fill your bags.
As for weighed produce, customers have a choice. Either they can print out their own barcode at the fruit and veg section, or they can take it straight to the rapid scan which has a weighing scale.
Unlike self-service scanners, payment isn't automated - the operator is also a conventional cashier. But, when it comes to paying, only credit or debit cards are accepted, which would be a disappointment to those who prefer to use cash. Is this the cashless future coming home to roost? Maybe.
Still, I'm all packed in less than two minutes. I cannot over-estimate what a Godsend this would be if my 11-month-old twin daughters Charlotte and Martha were with me - they aren't the most patient of customers.
