We know that Walmart has been offering deals on smartphones and even discounting the iPhone, now they are starting a program where customers can use their iPhones to check out and pay at self-service lanes.
Walmart touts it as a faster way to shop and save by scanning items with iPhones and putting them in bags in the cart while shopping.
Over half of Walmart shoppers use smartphones, the new service "Scan & Go" is designed to get shoppers through the self-service line quickly.
Shoppers scan the bar codes on items they are buying using the Walmart app on their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad while placing the items in bags in the shopping cart.
Then they pay for the items at the self-service check-out by scanning the QR code at the on the self-service screen. Payment is made at the payment terminal. Customers can get a paper and digital receipt. Digital coupons may be coming soon.
The Walmart App also allows users to create shopping lists.
Walmart's "Scan & Go" will be offered 200 stores, up from about 70 out of the Walmart's more than 4,000 U.S. stores. Currently Scan and Go only works with iPhone but an Android version is expected soon.
About 1,500 stores have self-checkout lanes, and another 1,000 to 1,500 stores be deployed later this year. Walmart in the past has been criticized for not hiring enough checkers to be able to handle check-outs causing long lines and waits.
Scan and Go is currently available in Arkansas, San Jose, Georgia and Vancouver WA. New markets will be Denver, Colorado; Phoenix, Arizona; Omaha, Nebraska; Dallas and Austin, Texas; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Wyoming; Bozeman, Montana; Seattle, Washington; and Portland, Oregon.
Scan & Go users pay with cash, credit card or other traditional methods. There is no word yet on the Merchant Customer Exchange, a mobile payment network.
Previously when we researched Walmart discounts on the Samsung Galaxy S III we found Amazon deals were generally better for Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. While Wirefly often had the best deals for T-Mobile. Walmart does have the best deal for the Nexus 10 32GB for $499.99 (no shipping charges with site to store). Read Nexus 10 review.