Coming to (dozens of) Kroger stores near you: bigger, belted self-checkout lanes

Alexander Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read

Attention Kroger shoppers: Are you that customer who heads into the store for a couple of items and ends up getting, well 15 or 20 things?

You really want to zip out, so you head to the self-checkout and it's a little awkward with all your items. Oops. It's not just you – in fact, a lot of people do that.

In the coming weeks, dozens of local Kroger stores in greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and the Dayton area will get a couple of new, larger self-checkout lanes that the supermarket giant has been testing in Columbus.

At the new stations, shoppers will still scan their own purchases, but once an item is swiped a belt moves it to a bagging station. There's no cashier, but a courtesy clerk will bag your groceries.

Olivia Shrewsbery, left, of Hilliard, uses the new conveyer belt self check out, at the Kroger store in Dublin, Ohio. Kroger is experimenting with a self-checkout technology where shoppers use a conveyor checkout.
Olivia Shrewsbery, left, of Hilliard, uses the new conveyer belt self check out, at the Kroger store in Dublin, Ohio. Kroger is experimenting with a self-checkout technology where shoppers use a conveyor checkout.

As Kroger and many retailers continue to grapple with a nationwide labor shortage, the new checkout system might be just the thing to speed the checkout process.

"We are excited to roll out this new enhancement to the customer shopping experience," said Kroger spokeswoman Jenifer Moore

Kroger is testing out a new self-checkout machine that uses a conveyor belt for shoppers with larger purchases at the Oakley Kroger.
Kroger is testing out a new self-checkout machine that uses a conveyor belt for shoppers with larger purchases at the Oakley Kroger.

Until this month, only two stores in the nation – both in the Columbus area – were testing the lanes. This spring, 42 stores or roughly a third of local Cincinnati region stores will get two lanes apiece. The first ones were installed last week.

On Thursday, Libby Bien, a 21-year-old Xavier University nursing student from Norwood, tried it out at the Kroger Marketplace on Marburg Avenue in Oakley – and gave it high marks.

"I like it, I like self-checkout – I can't remember the last time I used a lane with a live checker," Bien said.

Bien said it was an improvement because she also prefers to stock up when she shops and visit the store less. That's a problem in the self-checkout because the unit typically pauses around 20 items and has to be restarted by a nearby attendant.

"It always beeps out at you," Bien said.

Noah Derese, a 25-year-old Clifton resident and student at the University of Cincinnati, said he has the same problem: he prefers self-checkout, but wants to scan more items per visit.

"I try to keep it just under the limit, but it still goes off," Derese said. "This is some concept!"

In addition to Kroger stores, the Cincinnati-based grocer operates several regional supermarket chains in 35 states, including Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Mariano's, Fry's, Smith's, King Soopers, QFC and others. The company has nearly 2,800 stores and employs 465,000 workers.

Kroger is testing out a new self-checkout machine that uses a conveyor belt for shoppers with larger purchases at the Oakley Kroger.
Kroger is testing out a new self-checkout machine that uses a conveyor belt for shoppers with larger purchases at the Oakley Kroger.

For the latest on Kroger, P&G, Fifth Third Bank and Cincinnati business, follow @alexcoolidge on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kroger self-checkout expands test of bigger, belted lanes