Macy's will let shoppers use mobile app to skip the sales clerk, scan and pay for products

Macy's will soon let you bypass the sales clerk in the purchasing process.

The department store chain on Monday unveiled new features coming to its mobile app, including Mobile Checkout, which lets customers scan and pay for products with a smartphone.

That feature is expected to be available nationwide in all of Macy's full-line stores by the end of this year. Also in the works: an augmented-reality furniture shopping experience rolling out next month in the app.

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“We think of the Macy’s app as a key we hand to our customers, a key that allows them to unlock an enhanced shopping experience – a world of possibilities," Macy's chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette said Monday in a statement. "With this powerful tool in hand, we give them the opportunity to engage with us on their terms. And we keep adding exciting new features to it based on what they tell us.”

Most merchandise in stores will be available for mobile checkout, with the exception of a few product categories such as fine jewelry where a sales associate must manage the sale. 

Customers who want to check out Macy's mobile checkout when testing begins later this month at its Bloomingdale’s SoHo store in New York City will need to download the app, which is available for Android and iOS devices. Once in the store, customers must join Macy's free Wi-Fi network. 

When a customer finds an item they want to buy, they can scan the item's price tag with their smartphone's camera. The app will let shoppers apply any discounts or loyalty plan rewards to their purchase and pay via the credit card registered within the app.

Macy's mobile shopping process is a bit different from the Amazon Go clerk-free grocery store, which opened in January. In Amazon's store, shoppers can walk out without ever encountering a salesperson.

Macy's shoppers using the mobile-pay option will still proceed to special Mobile Checkout counters near the exit to have their purchase verified, security tags removed from their purchases and all their goods bagged.

With the augmented furniture feature, shoppers will be able to place Macy's tables and couches in their own actual dining and living rooms to see how they look.

Beyond that, the retailer plans to add a virtual-reality furniture experience into 60 stores by this fall. Furniture shoppers can use the VR tools to deploy and design a fully-furnished room to see how it looks.

These new in-store tech upgrades may resonate with shoppers, a new survey suggests. Most shoppers (95%) want to be left alone while shopping unless they need a store associate’s help, according to a new HRC Retail Advisory consumer survey. The retail strategy firm released the survey Monday at the Shoptalk Conference in Las Vegas where Macy's announced its new tech initiatives.

The firm polled 2,900 North American consumers about their shopping habits and preferences, finding that a majority want improved in-store tech features. The ability to scan and check product prices with their smartphones appealed to 85% of those surveyed, while 76% said an in-store app that provides personal recommendations was important.
 
“Identifying the right technologies and pairing it with the right in-store experience for shoppers of different generations will be critical to retailers’ long-term success," said Farla Efros, President of HRC Retail Advisory. "Those that curate and customize the store experience and services to suit shoppers’ needs will see the benefits.”

More:Macy's buoyed by brisk sales, popular new loyalty program

Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.