Mobile checkout coming to Canadian Nordstrom Rack stores in the next two weeks

TORONTO — Nordstrom Rack will be introducing mobile checkout in its first Canadian location in the next two weeks and all subsequent stores in the country as they’re built.

The retailer’s president Geevy Thomas says the offering allows staff to cash out customers from anywhere in the store via a mobile device.

He says the technology has been used by the company in the U.S. since 2011, but wanted to ensure all the details were in place before launching in Canada, when it opened its first Rack store at Vaughan Mills, north of Toronto, in March.

Thomas says the brand was driven to offer the technology after finding that despite having plenty of cashiers on hand, customers can still get stuck in lines when stores are busy.

Shoppers will still have the option to be cashed out the traditional way, but Thomas says he expects many will like mobile check-out because it reduces the “friction” around buying and can be helpful in saving time.

Other than at Apple stores, Thomas says he hasn’t seen similar technology used at other Canadian retailers.

Nordstrom Rack will open locations in downtown Toronto and at Deerfoot Meadows in Calgary in the next few weeks, and in the fall will roll out at South Edmonton Common, Heartland Town Centre in Mississauga, Ont. and the Ottawa Train Yards.