The East of England Co-op has invested more than £600k in a project to replace all its existing self-checkouts (SCOs) across their Food store estate with new units from Trust Retail. 

The new SCOs were piloted in Ipswich, where, the Co-op says the technology has already improved transaction efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Supported by software and IT company QCom, the rollout will standardise the East of England Co-op’s self-checkout experience. The new units are sleeker and more modern, with an intuitive user interface that better meets customer expectations.  

Trust Retail’s SCO solution also has the potential to reduce shrinkage through in-built camera technology, while headset integration for colleagues and advanced age verification tools aim to cut customer waiting times.

Rob Smith, Technology Officer for the East of England Co-op said: “Using technology to improve the customer experience in our Food stores is incredibly important to us. This partnership with Trust Retail alongside a substantial investment from the business ensures that we’re doing just that as well as providing technology that can create further efficiencies and compliance improvements in the future.” 

The self-checkouts will also support the Co-op’s community commitment, allowing members and customers to donate directly to local programmes at the checkout.

Business process specialist MiTEQ supported the retailer with the procurement process. The deployment began in late September and is scheduled for completion across the Food store estate by the end of 2025.