Bad news for grocery cashiers, retail giants Walmart and Kroger are expanding "scan and go" technology to hundreds of stores across the U.S.
Walmart's Scan & Go app allows consumers to scan items and pay on their smart phone. You woud then show a digital receipt to an attendant as you leave the store. Spokeswoman Ann Hatfield says the move is in direct response to consumer demand.
“Sam's Club rolled it out a year or two ago and it's been very, very successful,” she says. “We're rolling it out in the Walmart stores, and one of the very first stores in the country to have it is our brand new store in Tomball.”
Some fear the technology will put thousands out-of-work, but Hatfield calls it a transition forward.
“This is actually causing the creation of new jobs, so we have jobs today because of technology that didn't exist even a few years ago,” says Hatfield.
“We have personal shoppers for our online grocery pickup. We have pickup department managers for the increased pickup business that we're doing. We have e-commerce coaches that help set up and manage all of our online grocery pickup services throughout the country.”
Kroger's "Scan, Bag, Go" allows shoppers to scan bar codes either with a handheld scanner or via Kroger's smartphone app. Customers then will redeem coupons and pay at self-checkout kiosks.
Representatives from Kroger were unavailalbe for an interview.