The American supermarket chain, Kroger, has just introduced a new shopping device that they claim will give customers the easiest self-checkout ever in-store. Dubbed the KroGo cart, it lets customers scan and pay for items right on the cart, all while they wander around the store. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, it is.
Kroger is also introducing belted self-checkout lanes to 20 stores across Cincinnati, hoping to stop unscanned items from ending up in the bagging area. But the sensors added to self-checkout stations are causing mounting frustration among customers, resulting in a delayed checkout experience. To reduce errors and improve the checkout process, Kroger has partnered with Everseen, an AI company from Ireland. With Everseen’s Visual AI and machine learning technology, Kroger can remove friction for customers and reduce controllable costs, which will hopefully redirect those resources to improving the customer experience even more.
Three Items You Won’t Be Able to Shop in This Self-Checkout System
Customers using the KroGo buggy self-checkout system won’t be able to buy some items, and that’s bothering shoppers. This is intended to stop theft and stealing of these particular items, that are some of the products that costumers steal the most. These items, that are forbidden to shop using this system, are: tobacco, hard liquor, and behind-the-counter pharmacy drugs.
If you’re looking to buy age-restricted products like alcohol, you’ll need to show some ID. Plus, the device only supports bank card payments, so no cash payments allowed. But hey, you’ll get your receipts via email or text, so that’s something, right Kroger’s rival, Albertsons, is also jumping on the self-checkout bandwagon, offering the same technology to shoppers at some of its stores. With all these innovations, it looks like shopping at the grocery store is about to become even easier.
Self-Checkout Are Here to Stay, But There’s People Trying to Stop Them
Rhode Island State Representative Megan Cotter (D) has proposed a new bill that could restrict the use of self-checkout technology in grocery stores. The bill, known as H5161, would limit grocers to only eight self-checkout kiosks in operation at any one time. Additionally, customers who use self-checkout for more than ten items would be entitled to a 10% discount. According to a report by The U.S. Sun, the primary purpose of the legislation is to protect jobs. Cotter has criticized self-checkout technology for allowing grocers to offload the task of scanning items onto customers without compensating them, and for alienating older customers who may require assistance with technology or enjoy chatting with cashiers.
While modern self-checkout stations have been in use in some markets since the late 1980s, they only became a more widespread sight across the United States in the early 2000s. However, customer ambivalence towards the technology has led some major chains, such as Albertsons, to remove their self-checkout deployments by the end of that decade. The report also highlights challenges associated with the technology, such as increased shrink for retailers. Despite these challenges, the technology is expected to continue to grow due to a technological “arms race” between retailers and a misguided belief that it speeds up transactions.