What Kroger is debuting is something like a half-service lane where you do the scanning while a bagger bags your groceries at the end of the conveyor belt. While the idea effectively eliminates the "unscanned item in the bagging area" error, it may also help reduce shrink loss or shoppers leaving the store with unpaid items.

So far, the belted lanes have been so popular with shoppers that their reception is the reason Kroger decided to expand its footprint. These lanes will hopefully offer a happy medium between traditional checkout lanes and self-checkout areas that still cuts labor costs for the market without sacrificing customer happiness.