(José Niño, Headline USA) Rhode Island shoppers should expect longer wait times at the grocery store. Reason reports the state now leads the country in restricting grocery self-checkout, after Gov. Daniel McKee put his name on the Restrictions on Self-Service Checkout Stations Act in late June.
The statute demands one staffed lane for every trio of machines, goes into effect on January 1, 2027, and threatens violators with fines climbing to $500 daily.
“Today, we’re protecting jobs and strengthening customer service,” McKee declared in a press release. “Whether it’s helping a customer with an issue, assisting a senior or ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities, this law is about preserving choice and keeping people at the center of the shopping experience.”
Supporters market the rule as a shield for workers and customers alike. State Rep. Megan Cotter charged that stores deploy kiosks “specifically used to reduce the number of people that stores employ, and the number of hours that their employees work.” She accused “big corporations” of easing customers into the change even though “many people still want the advantages of checking out with a real human being.”
The polling cuts the other way, Reason points out. A 2024 NCR Voyix poll of 1,133 shoppers showed 43 percent favoring self checkout, rising to 53 percent for those aged 18 to 44. The firm’s 2025 Commerce Experience Report recorded 77 percent choosing speed as the reason, 36 percent naming shorter lines and 43 percent wanting to bag their own groceries. CapitalOne Shopping Research measured regular use at 79.3 percent in 2026.
Organized labor drove the win. Domenic Pontarelli of UFCW Local 328 argued in a statement that store employees end up “often overburdened, having to monitor too many self-checkouts while shoppers face delays,” and that “staffing ratios fix this issue for all parties.”
Grocers used a blunter word, calling the measure “egregious.” The Rhode Island Food Dealers Association told lawmakers in a March letter the plan “puts Rhode Island grocers at a significant competitive disadvantage” and “severely limits our members’ ability to properly utilize their staff as needed.”
“This bill while labeled as a restriction on self-checkout is in fact a ban on self-checkout. There is no way a grocery retailer would be able to keep self-checkout with these restrictions,” the association warned.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
