Eye on Retail: Kroger to expand checkout-free experience in 2018

The nation’s largest supermarket operator is taking the lead over rivals in the effort to provide shoppers with a checkout-free shopping experience.

Kroger will expand its Scan, Bag, Go technology to 400 stores in 2018. The expansion comes after a 20-store test program.

The offering allows customers to scan barcodes on products they wish to buy using a handheld scanner provided by the grocer or via the retailer's "Scan, Bag, Go" app on their smartphone. When they are finished shopping, customers pay for their order at a self-checkout register. Business Insider reported that customers will soon be able to skip the last step and pay through an app instead.

Kroger’s move comes as Walmart is testing checkout-free technology in a handful of stores across the country. Amazon has incorporated cashier-less technology into its Amazon Go store format, which is still being fine-tuned.