Pick out your groceries, scan them with your phone, place them in a bag and skip the checkout line on your way out the door.
Kroger is promising shoppers will be able to save time next time they visit the new store in Grafton in York County.
The supermarket is launching their Scan, Bag, Go service in the Historic Triangle Tuesday, according to a news release.
The Grafton store, which opened Oct. 24 on George Washington Memorial Highway, will be the first to implement the technology in Hampton Roads. Other Kroger stores will follow suit in the future. Kroger stores in Richmond, Charlottesville and many other markets have already added the technology.
Shoppers can download the Scan, Bag, Go app on their smartphone and begin scanning goods as they shop. The app will provide a running total for the cart, and will alert customers to current sales and digital coupons.
When customers are done they will stop to see a store associate at self-checkout to review their order. Shoppers will then hit “pay” on their phone and will be on their way.
“Our customers want the ability to choose when and how they shop with us to make their lives easier,” said Allison McGee, corporate affairs manager of Kroger’s Mid-Atlantic Division. “Our goal is to provide customers a simple, personalized shopping experience that saves them time and money.”
The Grafton store will have two team members dedicated to the Scan, Bag, Go service – one in the produce section and another at the kiosk near the main entrance. Both associates can assist customers who bring in paper coupons. The produce section will have special scales for items that need to be weighed by customers using the app.
The company’s research team invented the technology for the Scan, Bag, Go service.
Kroger also offers online shopping, home delivery and traditional checkout lanes.
An “enterprise-wide issue” is affecting the use of the Scan, Bag, Go technology as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, McGee said. Some customers are unable to use the technology, but the problem is not affecting all customers.
The issue is being actively worked on, she added.
“It could be up and running in just a few hours,” McGee said.
