Enhancing product information access in physical retail operations: How do Scan & Go technologies affect consumers' in‐store purchases?

Abstract

With the remarkable transformation of the retail industry driven by online channels, physical retailers have increasingly employed in‐store mobile technologies that integrate online features to remain competitive in their daily operations. In this study, we focus on the emerging Scan & Go ( S&G ) mobile technologies, which offer consumers in‐store access to online product reviews and tutorials for scanned products. While these technologies seemingly provide the benefits of integrating online and offline information, their real‐world effects on in‐store purchases remain uncertain due to the information attention reallocation effect . Specifically, consumers may allocate more attention to the products they scan via S&G , potentially increasing their purchases of these items, while reducing attention to surrounding products, possibly leading to fewer purchases of those items. Our empirical study leverages a unique data set to assess the comprehensive effects of consumers' S&G adoption on their in‐store purchasing behaviors, focusing on both transaction features and purchased product features. The findings reveal that consumers who adopt S&G technologies tend to place more orders, spend more overall, and exhibit greater expenditures per order. In addition, they also show a preference for high‐value items and diversify their purchases across product categories, while simultaneously purchasing fewer hedonic products. Further analysis investigates various S&G app usage behaviors to validate the information attention reallocation effect , providing deeper insights into how this technology influences consumers' shopping patterns. At the forefront of empirical research on emerging S&G technologies, this study provides valuable theoretical and practical implications for both researchers and practitioners in the field of retail operations. It emphasizes the need for strategic adaptation to innovative in‐store technologies and underscores the importance of operational adjustments within the physical retail environment to remain competitive in the evolving retail landscape.