GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Online retailers like Amazon have long held sway over consumers demanding convenience, but brick-and-mortar grocers have been steadily pushing back, with efforts to provide consumers with a similar level of ease and flexibility in their shopping experience. Walmart first began testing its Scan & Go concept in 2017, with an app allowing consumers to scan items’ barcodes as they shop, pay by mobile phone, and leave without going through the standard checkout counter. Kroger followed suit in December of that year, with its own Scan, Bag, Go program. Now, Meijer has begun a full-scale expansion of its attempt to implement a similar checkout model, Shop & Scan—and public response has been very favorable.

"We're all challenged by time and busy schedules, so Shop & Scan allows customers the opportunity to truly be in control of their shopping trip, from the moment they walk in our stores to the minute they walk out," said Tom Wilson, Regional Vice President. "Customers are appreciative of the simplicity of scanning and bagging as they go because they can save time and avoid lines, speeding up their checkout experience."

To partake in the new checkout experience, shoppers must first download the free Meijer Mobile App, according to a press release. Then, as they shop, customers will scan the barcodes on the items they wish to purchase and bag their own groceries. The app will display a running total of the items purchased, so shoppers can keep track of the items they buy. Once their shopping is completed, they can then scan their phone at a self-checkout lane, pay, and be on their way.

The Meijer Mobile app has already been downloaded 1.1 million times since the initial Shop & Scan pilot launched in Michigan last year. Since then, reportedly more than 80 percent of the retailer’s customers have used the Shop & Scan app as part of their experience. Reportedly, shoppers have most enjoyed the program’s integrated shopping list and ability to clip available Meijer member reward coupons, mPerks, to scanned items.

At this time, the retailer has expanded this service to 179 of its stores throughout Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and has plans to continue rolling out the Shop & Scan program to more stores this year.

Will this tech upgrade bring a new breed of consumer to Meijer stores? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.

Meijer