Cincinnati, OH- The Kroger Co, parent company of Fred Meyer, is in a race with Amazon and Wal-Mart to offer customers a cashier-free shopping experience according to a report from Business Insider.
In 2018, Kroger is rolling out a new service called “Scan, Bag, Go” to 400 stores that will enable shoppers to scan and pay for their items, as they shop, without checkout lanes, registers or cashiers.
According to The Kroger Co Mobile app website, here’s how it would work. Shoppers scan the bar code of items they wish to purchase using the company’s own Scan, Bag, Go app on any smart phone or by using a handheld scanner provided by the store.
The smart technology would keep a running tab of a shoppers’ total order and offer applicable digital coupons. The customer would then bag their items as they go and organize their items just the way they like. Eventually the technology would alert customers when they walk past an item on their shopping list.
Initially customers would be able to visit a self-checkout register with the Scan, Bag, Go logo and pay for their order by scanning their smart phone and paying in just minutes. Eventually shoppers will be able to skip the register all together and pay directly through the mobile phone app, never having to visit a register.
Kroger
The Scan, Bag, Go Service is currently available only in select Kroger Stores in Arizona and Ohio but Kroger plans to expand it to 400 locations in 2018. Nineteen of those locations will be in Texas and should be up and running between March 2018 and August 2018.
Wal-Mart is also testing their own Scan & Go Technology and plans on expanding their Scan & Go program to 200 stores in 2018. Wal-Mart will also have a Mobile Express lane at the front of the store for those shoppers to walk through, for security purposes, before they leave the store.
Amazon has been piloting a store without checkout lines, called Amazon Go, currently only open to the company’s employees near its Seattle Headquarters. Kroger and Wal-Mart are opening the floodgates for the new technology in 2018.
Kroger is also in the midst of rolling out “Kroger Edge“, a new shelving system for its grocery stores. The company is planning to outfit hundreds of stores with digital screens that will be able to instantly update an item’s price or feature other information. Eventually the technology will link to a shopper’s smart phone to help them navigate the store.
Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst based in Santa Monica, California. told The Oregonian “Increased automation might not be all bad for retail workers. Stores adding cashier-replacing technology could move those workers to other positions throughout the store. In theory, these employees could be re-trained to provide customer service or specialized product knowledge, a win-win for workers and shoppers.”
If the new technology is successful, it is unclear how soon Kroger could implement the technology in our local Fred Meyer stores.
this is crap. no one should support this. this is unrestricted capitalism. if you think this is a way to save a buck as a consumer you`re wrong wrong wrong. the concept of computers and technology overtaking humanity is already well on its way. look at our kids what the dependancy on technology has done to them. when it comes to mathmatics, most couldn`t add 1 plus 3 and get it right. no need to teach cursive anymore, i was shocked to find this out. something to think about. it was albert einstein himself that stated when technology surpasses humanity we then become idiots.
If they think that I am going to shop their stores, buy their products and then work for them by checking out and bagging my groceries without paying me for my efforts they are Sadly Mistaken!
If they want me to do the work for them then they will have to pay me! My wages and my time are worth a minimum of $35.00 per hour, with a minimum of 2 hours pay for showing up and shopping!
This is ridiculous! Let’s just keep taking our jobs away! Right now I only shop at Fred Meyer, if our store does this I will definitely be shopping somewhere else!!!