According to an analysis by Grocery Dive, retailers are embracing self-checkout and ordering kiosks to answer the Great Resignation:

To help deal with a persistent labor shortage that has severely tested their ability to keep stores staffed and stocked, grocers are stepping up efforts to mechanize a range of essential tasks that historically have been handled by people.

This includes adding more self-checkout terminals to stores and relying on automation tools that help them update prices and manage their inventory. Many of these tools have been available to food retailers, and they're getting a closer look nowadays as the industry confronts what looks to be a long-term hiring and retention challenge.

But as retailers increase their reliance on time-tested automation solutions, they are also tackling pressing questions about the role human workers will play in supermarkets in the future, industry experts said.

Having workers perform tasks that technology can easily replace probably isn't the best use of people's time, said Gautham Vadakkepatt, director of the Center for Retail Transformation at the George Mason University School of Business. "Companies are getting smarter to that and saying given the new environment we're operating in, let's do this with automation and use our talented workforce in a context that actually adds value to the company," he said.

To read the full analysis, please visit Grocery Dive.

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