Kroger is testing personal shopping technology instore at six locations, allowing shoppers to use handheld scanners, smart produce scales and other systems, Supermarket News reports.The move is in preparation for allowing customers to shop instore with their smartphones.
The centrepiece of the technology platform is an internally-developed handheld shopping device called PAL (personal assistant and liaison) that is similar to the Scan It! handheld scanners that Ahold USA offers shoppers in more than 280 Stop & Shop and Giant stores.
Kroger's touchscreen PAL unit lets customers scan and bag products as they move about the store, showing the total cost of goods so far. The retailer hopes that in future the device will suggest cheaper alternative products and comparable private labels.
Kroger is also currently developing an ‘intelligent shopping cart’ which weighs each product to ensure it was scanned before being placed into the cart.
At the moment the PAL costs around $50, and this relatively low cost has meant Kroger is allowing customers at one store to take the devices home, where they could scan coupons and the barcodes on items they need to replenish.
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