Tracing the Digital Transformation of Grocery Stores

In less than a year, the American grocery store has gone from an age-old, in-person shopping institution to a destination at the forefront of a technological transformation. Grocery giant Kroger, for instance, covered 98 percent of households in its delivery areas in 2020 by investing in a large digital and delivery presence. Furthermore, according to a recent global study, over 50 percent of respondents are not planning to re-integrate in-store shopping into their routine for "a long time"--underlining the need for innovative solutions. As the world traverses a slow path to recovery amid COVID-19, how we purchase food and staple goods may never look quite the same, thanks to new technologies and consumer habits. Though automats and self-service technologies have existed since the 1930s, the first proper self-checkout platform was introduced in 1992 by Dr.