As online shopping soars, US grocery chain experiments with automated pickup kiosks

The code on a customer's phone during pickup at Chicago's South Loop Jewel-Osco. The grocery chain is testing an automated pickup kiosk in Chicago's South Loop, a first for an American grocer. — Chicago Tribune/TNS

A Jewel-Osco store in Chicago is the first grocery in the nation to pilot an automated pickup kiosk, one of numerous investments grocers are making to prepare for a future of more online shopping.

The kiosk, located in the store parking lot, is meant to offer a convenient and contact-free option for online shoppers to collect their groceries. Shoppers are asked to select a two-hour pickup window, and when they arrive they scan a code and their items are delivered robotically, according to the company.