By The Chronicle Staff

Shoppers at some Kroger stores in Central Ohio may notice a new employee quietly moving through the aisles. It doesn’t greet customers, bag groceries or stock shelves. Instead, it scans them.

Kroger has begun expanding the use of autonomous inventory robots designed to monitor store shelves and alert employees when products are running low, misplaced or missing.

The technology is intended to improve product availability while allowing store associates to spend less time manually checking inventory and more time assisting customers.

The robots, known as Tally, navigate store aisles using cameras, sensors and artificial intelligence. As they travel through the store, they compare what they see on the shelves with inventory data, identifying empty spaces, pricing discrepancies and products placed in the wrong location. Employees then receive reports highlighting areas that need attention.

Kroger said the technology is not intended to replace workers but rather to eliminate repetitive tasks that can consume hours of an employee’s day. By automating shelf inspections, workers can focus on stocking products, assisting shoppers and completing other customer-service responsibilities.

The rollout builds on Kroger’s broader investment in automation and artificial intelligence.

Earlier this year, the company expanded the use of electronic shelf labels in many Columbus-area stores, allowing prices and promotions to be updated digitally rather than by replacing paper tags. Kroger has also deployed drones inside distribution centers to monitor warehouse inventory and continues to invest in automated fulfillment technology for grocery delivery operations.

While the robots are designed to improve efficiency, reactions have been mixed.

Some shoppers view them as another example of technology making everyday tasks faster and helping reduce out-of-stock items. Others worry about increased automation in retail and question whether robots could eventually reduce the need for human employees.

Kroger has maintained that the robots simply collect inventory information and do not replace the work performed by store associates.

Employee reactions have also varied. Discussions among Kroger workers online suggest some appreciate having inventory scans handled automatically, while others said the reports generated by the robots can create additional tasks during already busy shifts.

The introduction of shelf-scanning robots reflects a growing trend across the grocery industry. Retailers nationwide are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence, robotics and digital tools to improve inventory accuracy, reduce waste and keep popular products on store shelves.

For customers, the most noticeable change may simply be encountering a slow-moving robot quietly making its way down the grocery aisle — part of a larger shift toward technology-driven retail that continues to reshape how supermarkets operate behind the scenes. ■