SALT LAKE CITY -- Convenience-store retailers Jiffy Trip and Rapid Refill are bringing Skip Checkout to their locations as a part of Skip’s goal to put its mobile checkout system in 3,000 stores by 2019, ahead of Amazon.
Skip aims to become the largest connected network of retailers in the nation, it said. Jiffy Trip is the second network of stores to be onboarded, with 28 locations in Oklahoma. Skip said it has signed contracts “slotted for execution” that amount to a total of more than 3,000 stores.
Jiffy Trip is the convenience-store brand of Hammer Williams Co., Enid, Okla., with 28 c-stores in central and northwestern Oklahoma. Plymouth, Mass.-based Volta Oil operates 15 Rapid Refill c-stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Jiffy Trip will begin a phased rollout of Skip Checkout in four stores by mid-October, Becky Treece, marketing manager for Jiffy Trip, told CSP Daily News. Eventually customers visiting any of Jiffy Mart's 28 stores will be able to make their purchases with Skip Checkout.
“We are thrilled to partner with Skip in providing a new and innovating way for our customers to shop within our locations. The ability for customers to shop how they want and check out how they want is the direction for the future, and Skip allows us to add another channel to enhance the shopping experience for our valued customers,” said Alex Williams, COO of Jiffy Trip.
Rapid Refill is in the "infant stages" of its agreement with Skip, Ben Bolen, director of operations for Volta Oil, told CSP Daily News.
With the Skip app, customers can scan items with their phones as they shop, allowing them to bypass the checkout line. Once they finish shopping, their receipt appears in the app. They show their receipt and purchased items to a store employee and are then free to walk out the door.
Skip made c-store headlines in August when Anderson, Ind.-based Ricker’s announced it would launch the app’s self-checkout service in all 58 of its c-stores. More recently, Ricker’s was sold to supermarket and store retailer Giant Eagle Inc. Ricker’s would not comment to CSP Daily News on the status of its Skip initiative since the sale was announced.
- Ricker's is ranked No. 117 in CSP's 2018 Top 202 list of c-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets.
Since the initial announcement of partnership with Ricker’s, Skip has announced integrations with tech suppliers such as ZipLine, PDI and Koupon Media.
“With limited infrastructure and labor requirements for implementation, it’s a really exciting time for the entire team here at Skip as we limber up and begin a foot race with the behemoth, Amazon,” said Chase Thomason, CEO and founder of Skip.
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