Walmart experiments with iPhone-based checkout

Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted from the Today @ PC World blog at PCWorld.com.

Walmart is testing a new system that not only would save the company money but reduce the amount of time customers must spend interacting with the retailer's self-checkout machines—an experience some people find annoying.

Many people shop at Walmart because of its low prices. One way the company keeps prices down is by installing a large number of self-checkout terminals in its stores. But if you've ever used one of those terminals, you know they can be a pain.

For one thing, they can be gratingly loud. Also, if you scan something that doesn't weigh much, the system often doesn't recognize that you moved it to the bagging area; if that happens too many times, the whole process comes to a halt while you wait for a Walmart worker to intervene.

But according to Reuters, Walmart has invited employees in Rogers, Arkansas who own iPhones to participate in a test in which they would use an app loaded on their smartphone to scan items when they take them off the shelf and then bag them as they shop.

The test doesn't let participants use their phones to pay, but rather transfers purchases saved on their phones to a self-checkout terminal. So instead of standing there listening to the terminal repeatedly instruct you to scan each item, you only have insert payment and obey a few other directives before you can exit with your goods.

Walmart recently announced that it is joining with a dozen retailers including—Best Buy, Target, and 7-Eleven—to form the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), a mobile-payments network that will compete with Google Wallet and mobile payment system Isis, which is supported by the major mobile carriers and plans to debut in September. No launch date was given for MCX, but development of its mobile app, which will work on virtually any smartphone, is under way.

Like their competitors, the retailers plan to combine their mobile wallet with targeted offers and promotions offered to users on their smartphones.