ROUND ROCK, TX—My friends have been raving about the new H-E-B Go for a couple of months now, so I knew I had to check it out.
I knew it wasn’t going to be the same experience as Amazon Go, a completely cashier-less system where you scan your phone and a sophisticated network of cameras follows your movements through the store.
This H-E-B Plus! is close to 100,000 square feet, so there’s no way that would work on this scale.
What you’re supposed to be able to do is scan your groceries as you shop, and pay at the end without having to wait at checkout.
I had a few hiccups:
- Coupons: being a newbie, I had no idea if I could use a coupon or not. Turns out you can, but you have to go through the checkout process a little different.
- Alcohol: I wanted a bottle of wine but skipped it because I figured it would cause a problem.
- App fatigue: I had to toggle between a grocery app my family uses and the H-E-B Go app, and that was cumbersome.
Overall, it was fun, and I’d do it again.
