LUZERNE -- We could be getting a glimpse into the future of grocery shopping at a supermarket in Luzerne County.
Gerrity's is testing a new app at its Luzerne location that allows shoppers to scan their own items and give them extra savings, too.
You'll likely be seeing more and more of shoppers with smartphones in their hands. They're actually using an app on the phone to scan every item they buy, doing their own checkout as they go using an app called Fetch.
It's being tested at the Luzerne Gerrity's only.
"I do believe this is the future of all retail checkout," said Co-Owner Joe Fasula. "I think at some point you're going to see all retailers have this type of technology."
"I downloaded it when I saw they had it. I used it, and I liked it," said Brianna Thomas of Pringle.
Thomas has used it on a couple shopping trips already. After she scans every item she is buying, she goes to the checkout. They scan her phone, bag her items, and after paying, she's good to go, avoiding the normal checkout.
"There's a barcode that pops up and they scan it. It's pretty easy," she said.
"I think it's great. It's the first time I've heard about it," said Christine Manzella.
Manzella downloaded the app to her phone after we told her about it, then started to shop, even weighing her own produce and scanning away.
But the big benefit is the savings. There are weekly Fetch-only deals you can see on the phone and on signs posted on items throughout the store which will be extra savings on top of Gerrity's Gold Card discounts.
"I'm always using couponing apps and anything that helps with the food budget, so that's great," Manzella said.
Not only are you using your phone to check out items and take advantage of special sales with everything you scan, you get bonus points you can redeem for free groceries.
And even though customers using the app scan their own items, this isn't quite an honor system. Cashiers do a spot check to make sure 25 percent of items match up.
This is only available in one store now, but it's already catching on.
"In two weeks, we had over 500 customers use it. We have had 1,200 transactions. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive," Fasula said.
For customers without smartphones, Gerrity's does have special tablets available.
Gerrity's is only using the Fetch app right now at its Luzerne location as a trial run. It will soon begin testing another similar app called Skip at the Keyser Avenue Gerrity's in Scranton.
In the end, one of them could be rolled out to all Gerrity's stores.