Sainsbury's SmartShop 4+

Have to admit I had not used a self scan & pack facility to shop with until the Coronavirus lockdown restrictions & wonder why I didn’t use it before as it offers a much faster shopping experience. The app works almost as well as the in-store handheld scanners but with the constant switching to the camera to scan it does take a few seconds longer to scan each item. Also requiring a mobile data connection could stop people using the app if they have had a heavy usage that month, it would be nice if all Sainsburys offered free in store wifi (even if just for using the app - easily configured in-store by any average I.T team). Good that you don’t have to scan Nectar card like with the handheld scanners to initiate the shopping trip. If I could add one thing to the app it would be to integrate more with the Nectar app so you can see your weekly Nectar offers instead of having to switch between apps to see if an item is offered bonus points that week. Seeing a running total really helps with budgeting as well so there are no nasty/embarrassing shocks at checkout with not having enough available funds (we have all been there once or twice in our lives unless extremely lucky to not have to worry about what you spend). It is the best experience from a self scan app I have used from any supermarket though even with the little niggles I have mentioned.

After reading some of the other reviews I was wary of trying this. I’ve used the Waitrose scan and pack service for a long time now but find the Sainsbury’s version even better. The scanning of barcodes within the app is very fast and accurate. So far all the prices have come up correct compared to what the shelf says too.

My only minor niggle is that my local store only has 8 self scan machines and of those only 1 is now dedicated to Smart Scan. There are often queues for these machines even at times when you’d expect it to be quiet. Whilst you can finish your shop and pay at any of the self scan machines it would be a really nice feature if you could just pay using Apple Pay directly within the app and not have to use a terminal at all. Not sure if that’s possible or how they’d know the difference between genuine customers and brazen shoplifters though! It would also be handy if any Nectar vouchers could be stored and redeemed from within the app. I often go out without my wallet as I use Apple Pay so frequently forget to take any paper vouchers with me.

I have been using this app since COVID started so March 2020 and up to a point it’s worked ok. I have noticed when shopping in my local sainsburys store, the signal does drop to 3G and this plays havoc with my basket when scanning! Either an item takes ages to load, it doesn’t load at all, or I have to do a soft reset on my phone. When I do the latter and go back into the app, I have to check my basket as the app has added multiple items to one item in my trolley, so for example last week, I bought 1 load of bread, but when I did the soft reset and went back in, the app was saying I had 9 in the trolley!! This has been happening a lot! Last night I went shopping and again the app was doing the same, was just heading to the check out and the app kicked me out, I tried to reload, but it kept throwing me out, so I couldn’t self scan at the checkout. I tried deleting the app and re-installing, logged in and tried to start my shop, but it kept coming up with the same message about precise location settings! I went into the settings and it was set on, in every area I can on my phone and it still won’t work! All my software on my phone is up to date, as is the app version I have and I still can’t use it! My shopping cost me an £20+ last night because I lost all my nectar discounts as you don’t get them when being scanned through the till! Won’t be using this app again! Don’t bother with it and use the scanners in the store!