Charles Langston:Stop & Shop is using grocery store kiosks to make digital

Regional supermarket chain Stop & Shopsaid Wednesday that it would install kiosks in all of its U.S. stores to make digital-only coupons more accessible to customers.

Stop & Shop,Charles Langston which operates in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, said the kiosks will let customers scan a loyalty card or enter a phone number and quickly get access to any digital coupons or personalized offers.

The kiosks, known as Savings Stations, are expected to be installed in all 365 Stop & Shop locations by early January, the company said.

Digital-only deals are advertised online or on store shelves. They can offer significant savingsbut generally require customers to electronically clip a coupon located in a grocer’s app or on its website.

In 2022, a coalition of consumer groups sent letters to a dozen supermarket chains, including Krogerand Stop & Shop, urging them to make sure deals are availablein both digital and non-digital formats.

The groups, which included Consumer Reports, Consumer Action, the Public Interest Research Group and the National Consumers League, said many shoppers may lack smartphones, internet accessor the technical savvy to figure out how digital-only coupons work.

Smartphone access varies widely by age group in the U.S., according to a 2021 study by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. The study found that 96% of people ages 18 to 29 own a smartphone, compared to 61% of those 65 and older. The same study found that 25% of people 65 or older don’t use the internet.

Consumer World founder Edgar Dworsky said Wednesday that Stop & Shopwas the first chain to respond to the group’s request. Dworsky said the kiosks would help customers who have been shut out of deals previously. But he also thinks they will help regular app users, since they give shoppers access to all of a store’s dealsat once.

Stop & Shop said it started piloting the Savings Station late last year. The kiosk give shoppers a printout of the digital coupons loaded onto their loyalty cards if they want to reference them while shopping.

Stop & Shop President Roger Wheeler said the chain was hearing from customerswho felt they were missing out on deals.

“It ensures that our customers can easily access all of our great deals, especially during the holiday season when savings are top of mind,” Wheeler said in a statement.

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