When it comes to updating your wardrobe, although it is becoming more and more popular to consult websites to buy clothes online, there are people who prefer to go out to the shops as they have always done. But the reality is that the queues in some shops can be a bit frustrating. And to speed up this process a little, Zara has implemented its Pay&Go system .
It is a system that will soon allow us to shop at Zara without having to go to the checkout , either to pay or to deactivate the alarms. We will take the clothes we want, pay for them with our mobile phone and go home. Something that seems futuristic but is about to arrive.
- What is the Pay&Go system
- How will we remove the alarms?
- RFID radio frequency alarms
- How will we pay for the purchase?
- Can we pay in cash?
- When will Play&Go be available?
- Is it already possible to pay with the Pay&Go system?
- In the Plaza de España store in Madrid
- At self-checkouts
- Is Zara the first store to implement this system?
What is the Pay&Go system
Pay&Go is a system that allows us to scan the items we want to buy directly from the Zara app on our mobile phone. We can also pay for them with the same mobile phone, and in this way we can leave the store without having to go through the checkout or queue at any time.
Queues at Zara checkout have always been one of the store’s biggest drawbacks, so avoiding them will likely boost sales at the popular Inditex store.
How will we remove the alarms?
One of the reasons why it is now necessary to go through the checkout when we buy at Zara is to remove the copper alarms that are attached to the clothes to prevent theft. And this is a question that many users ask themselves. Will we have to remove the alarms ourselves? What if we do it wrong and end up breaking the clothes? Don’t worry, none of that will be necessary .
The Pay&Go system has a system that will ensure that the alarms are not attached to clothing , so it will not be necessary to remove them.
RFID radio frequency alarms
The system that will allow us not to have to go through the checkout to remove the alarms is the RFID radio frequency alarm system .
These alarms consist mainly of a radio frequency sticker that can be removed as soon as the product is scanned with a mobile phone. This way, it will not be necessary to attach it to clothing or deactivate it with a special device. This system is already used in many clothing stores for self-checkouts, and it will be fully implemented in Zara next summer .
How will we pay for the purchase?
To pay for our order without having to go through the checkout, we will use the Zara app on our mobile phone , just as if we were making an online purchase.
So, we will have to use one of the payment methods available in the application, such as credit cards and other payment systems like Google Pay . Once we have scanned all the products we want to pay for, we will only have to select the payment method we want and confirm the payment. The purchase will be made just as if we had made it at the checkout.
Can we pay in cash?
One of the problems with Zara’s Pay&Go system is that it does not allow cash payments , as it is designed to be paid from a mobile phone.
Therefore, if you do not have an account with a bank that supports Google Pay, Apple Pay or Samsung Pay, your options will be to either enter your credit card details in the Zara app or continue paying at the checkout . Because of course checkouts will continue to exist , Pay&Go is just another option for those who want to make purchases in a faster way.
When will Play&Go be available?
Although some tests have already been carried out in this regard, the store’s idea is that the possibility of using the Pay&Go system will be extended throughout 2024. And by 2025, we will be able to opt for this option in all of the firm’s establishments, so that it will no longer be necessary for us to pay at the checkout when we go to buy our favorite clothes in a store of the brand.
Therefore, if you are one of those who prefer to go to physical stores but get frustrated by queues, you have very little time left to forget about them .
Is it already possible to pay with the Pay&Go system?
In the Plaza de España store in Madrid
Zara has begun testing its Pay&Go system, which will gradually be extended to all its stores. And to do so, as expected, it has chosen the Plaza de España store in Madrid , the largest Zara store in the world, which the company has taken as its reference establishment. If this is the store you go to to make your purchases, you can now pay directly with your mobile phone and leave without having to go through the checkout . However, if you buy elsewhere, for the moment you will have to wait until it is implemented in other places .
At self-checkouts
Most Zara stores already have self-checkouts where we can unpack and pay for our products directly. We could consider this to be a hybrid between the Pay&Go system and the traditional checkout, because we would still go through a checkout but we would do the rest ourselves. But the queues at this type of checkout are much shorter than at traditional checkouts.
Is Zara the first store to implement this system?
Although Zara is one of the first chains to have decided to opt for a mobile payment system without going through the checkout, it is by no means the only one. At Decathlon we can find a very similar system, although for the moment it is still necessary to go through a self-checkout to scan the items and pay directly. But the objective of speeding up queues so that we do not have to despair in them has been achieved. Everything seems to indicate that this is the future of shopping , since traditional checkouts will soon become a vestige of the past.