Hy-Vee stores are ditching a form a digital technology that allowed customers to skip the checkout lines completely.

The Des Moines Register reports that Hy-Vee announced on Monday that it was disabling its Scan and Go app. The company announced on its website that the app had been shut down as of Monday.


The Scan and Go app was launched in 2021. It allowed customers to scan items on their phones as they moved through the store. When they were ready to check out, they could skip the checkout lines and pay at a kiosk at the front of the store. The Register reports that since starting the program in Des Moines, Hy-Vee had spread the Scan and Go program to a quarter of its 258 stores in eight states. A Hy-Vee spokesperson declined to comment on the shutdown of the app.

The Register points out that Hy-Vee isn't the only grocery store chain to experiment with the technology. Wegmans stores in New York shut down their shopping app last August saying that the losses they were suffering prevented them from continuing. The Register reports that research shows that loss rates rise in stores that use the apps, noting that shoppers either forget to scan in items or take advantage and simply avoid doing so. Wal-Mart also launched a version of scan and go back in 2014, but phased it out in 2018.

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