MAJOR changes have been shaking up the aisles at Kroger this year, but not all of them are proving popular with customers.
The supermarket giant has pushed out several updates in 2025, including tweaks to its shopping carts and shelves, while also reversing course on its coupon rules.
Kroger has introduced four major changes this year (stock)[/caption]
The supermarket giant has pushed out several updates in 2025, including tweaks to its shopping carts and shelves (stock)[/caption]
One of the most controversial updates was spotted in Somerset, Kentucky, where Kroger shoppers discovered their carts had been fitted with locking sensors.
The system is designed to stop people from wheeling carts away from the store, with a magnetic strip in the parking lot forcing the wheels to lock.
Kroger isn’t the first to install the tech.
Winn-Dixie has already rolled out similar measures, and other stores have tried the same.
But some shoppers said the carts were locking up before they even made it to their cars.
“They are annoying because they never work in the parking lot, had to lift the front wheels off the ground to get the cart to the car,” one customer complained on Facebook.
Another said: “Sometimes are faulty. I emptied my paid-for groceries into my vehicle and then the cart locked up. I could drag the damned cart far enough to drive away, only to be berated by a nasty old lady for not pushing the locked-up cart to the cart corral.”
A third shared: “I watched a guy pick one the whole cart up and carry it down the street to the bus stop one time after the wheels locked.”
Critics pointed out that Aldi has solved the cart problem without electronics.
Instead, the budget chain uses a quarter deposit system, forcing customers to return their carts to get their coin back.
That method also cuts down on stray carts left around the lot and doesn’t require sensors that can fail.
Others speculated Kroger’s system might be tied to local ordinances, with towns fining stores when carts are abandoned off-property.
Beyond the cart row, Kroger has also performed a U-turn on coupons.
The chain quietly brought back paper coupons after shoppers blasted its all-digital system for shutting out seniors and people less familiar with apps.
“They are obnoxious in the sense that if you can’t figure out how to use the app, then you don’t get that discount,” customer Robin Casagrande told WCPO.
Pat O’Brien added: “They are making it too hard. I mean, seriously.”
Now, paper coupons are available in stores every Wednesday and can be scanned at registers or self-checkout alongside digital versions.
“We are always listening to our customers to create a better shopping experience,” Kroger said in a statement.
But while paper coupons are back, another update has sparked backlash: electronic shelf labels.
Kroger has been expanding its EDGE Shelf technology since 2018, with digital tags that allow prices to be changed instantly.
The labels are meant to save time for workers and reduce paper waste, but customers have flagged problems.
“I already dislike these new digital labels – I can’t see the last 4 digits on the higher shelves!” one Walmart shopper said in a Reddit thread, voicing the same frustrations Kroger customers have had.
The bigger fear is “dynamic pricing,” where costs could rise during peak demand.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey previously pressed Kroger on the issue, warning it could “extract maximum profits at a time when the amount of Americans’ income spent on food is at a 30-year high.”
Kroger pushed back, saying: “Any test of electronic shelf tags is to lower prices more for customers where it matters most. To suggest otherwise is not true.”
Meanwhile, Kroger stores are also under pressure from changes outside the aisles.
Earlier this summer, the company confirmed it would close 60 underperforming stores over the next 18 months.
At the same time, at least 30 new “major” projects are set to open by the end of 2025, with more coming in 2026.
The new designs include larger Marketplace stores with wider aisles, sushi counters, coffee kiosks, and expanded product lines.
Still, the closures have angered some communities, with union leaders warning they will hit rural areas hardest.
Kroger also recently ditched its Kroger Ship delivery service and continues to wrestle with the fallout from its failed $24.6 billion merger with Albertsons.
Interim CEO Ronald Sargent has said the chain will now focus on profitable stores and redesigned layouts to pull shoppers back in.
But as 2025 rolls on, half of Kroger’s biggest changes are leaving many customers unconvinced – and frustrated.
