Publix Pay Ends: Payment Verification Woes

Publix is discontinuing its mobile payment app, Publix Pay, effective March 19, a move that underscores persistent hurdles in app-based in-store checkout. The Florida-based grocer notified customers by email but did not disclose a reason for the decision. Industry analysts point to inventory shrinkage and the difficulty of confirming that an app payment covers every item in a shopper’s basket as the likely causes.

The core problem: verifying payment at exit

Publix Pay allowed shoppers to store debit, credit and gift cards and pay in-store by scanning a QR code and entering a PIN. The fundamental issue, according to Don Apgar of Javelin Strategy & Research, is that the store has no reliable way to confirm that a departing customer actually paid through the app. “This basic problem has thwarted all major retailers from implementing a pay-by-app function,” Apgar said. Simple fixes, such as stopping customers at the door or assigning an associate to verify payment, would nullify the labor and time savings the app was supposed to deliver and offer little convenience over a standard register or self-checkout.

The high cost of a technical fix

A thorough solution would require a sophisticated infrastructure: RFID tags on every item, geofencing on the user’s phone, and exit scanners to match items in a cart with the payment processed through the app. “But this tech is very expensive to deploy at scale, so the question loops back to whether this offers enough convenience to justify the costs,” Apgar noted. Without such investment, retailers face an either-or tradeoff between shrinkage risk and operational inefficiency.

What remains for Publix customers

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