Only months ago, retailers were touting the benefits of speed and convenience as they marketed their mobile capabilities. But as COVID-19 has created awareness of the concept of “contactless” for reducing infection rates, retailers are seizing on this message when they introduce “cashierless” mobile scanning-and-checkout technology. One example is U-Haul Scan & Go, a new feature that enables customers in company-owned U-Haul stores across the U.S. and Canada to scan products while they shop using their mobile devices. Scan & Go can be accessed through a mobile app or via uhaul.com/scan.

“U-Haul Scan & Go allows customers to practice social distancing while adding items to their digital cart, gaining information on products and avoiding checkout lines,” according to a company release. Once shoppers have selected their shipping boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap, duct tape, moving blankets, box cutters or other products, they can pay with their smartphones and leave without needing to engage with a cashier.

U-Haul retail showrooms and truck rental facilities are open during the pandemic as essential businesses, so customers can also choose traditional checkout at the physical locations as well as online ordering and delivery. The retail stores are following a rigorous sanitization schedule and a six-foot distancing plan specific to each location, according to the company.