6 Things Kroger Employees Wish Hoosiers Knew Before Checkout

A Consumer Reports investigation in 14 states found that Kroger-owned stores overcharged shoppers an average of 18.4% on items with expired sale tags.

You can bet the cashiers can name a time or two when they’ve seen that happen.

These are the things Kroger employees wish Hoosiers knew before checkout.

Fuel Points Toward Groceries

Kroger cashiers watch shoppers skip a discount they don’t know exists: Fuel points count toward a grocery order now, not just gas.

The company changed its Rewards program in June, and 100 points now knocks a dollar off a grocery order, up to $10 a day.

That’s new money many shoppers never notice sitting in their account, and cashiers say few customers ever ask about it.

The catch is timing.

The redemption isn’t automatic, so a shopper has to log into the Kroger app or Kroger.com and apply the points before checkout.

One Barcode for Every Deal

Kroger still expects shoppers to load digital coupons through its app before they shop, and many shoppers give up halfway through the list.

Employees know a workaround many customers never ask about.

Kroger rolled out a physical Super Coupon sheet in 2025, a two-sided page sitting near the entrance or the service desk with one barcode printed on it.

Scan that one code at the register, and every digital deal on that week’s sheet loads onto the account at once.

Nobody has to open the app, log in, or clip a single offer.

Kroger said in 2023 that nearly 80% of the coupons it mails to regular shoppers arrive on paper.

The sheet up front works like that mailer’s twin for anyone who tossed theirs.

A shopper still needs a loyalty account tied to a phone number or a card for the discount to land.

No account, no discount.

Two Coupons on One Item

Kroger cashiers watch this trip up shoppers almost every mega sale: Two coupons for the same item, and the register accepts only one.

Kroger shoppers who stack a digital coupon on top of a paper coupon for the same item run into that wall every time.

Both count as manufacturer coupons under Kroger’s coupon policy, so the system won’t accept two on one product no matter how the math works out.

One coupon still pairs fine with a sale price.

The mix-up shows up most during mega sales, where a shopper piles cereal, snacks, and frozen items into one order to clear a spending threshold.

The shopper then assumes every coupon in the cart will ring up on its own.

It doesn’t.

Your Number as Your Card

Kroger cashiers ask for a phone number before reaching for a scanner because they know it unlocks the same loyalty pricing as the physical Plus Card.

Kroger doesn’t require that card at checkout to unlock loyalty pricing.

Reciting a phone number tied to the account pulls up the same discounts and points a card would, so a shopper who left the card at home still saves.

Digital coupons work the opposite way.

A coupon that never got loaded onto the account before the shopper reached the register can’t be added after the scan, even with the phone number typed in.

That’s the one shortcut a phone number can’t fix.

Boost Membership’s Skipped Purchases

Kroger cashiers ring up gas, gift cards, and tobacco every day without a Boost bonus ever attaching to them, and they know many members don’t notice until the receipt prints.

Kroger sells a paid membership called Boost that doubles the points earned on a normal trip.

A member gets 2X points on qualifying purchases, free delivery on orders over $35, and one ad-supported streaming perk after the trial ends, all for $99 a year.

That doubling has limits many members discover the hard way, right at the register.

Fuel, alcohol, tobacco, gift cards, and pharmacy purchases earn no bonus at all.

A cart heavy on gas or a gift card brings home fewer points than a member expects to see on the receipt.

New members get a 30-day free trial before deciding whether the math works for their household.

Skip that window, and the $99 charge goes through anyway.

Register vs. Shelf Prices

Kroger cashiers can fix a wrong scan on the spot, but only if a shopper catches it before leaving the register.

Kroger-owned stores turned up in a nationwide pricing investigation many Hoosiers never heard about.

A three-month review of more than two dozen locations across 14 states found expired sale tags overcharging shoppers on more than 150 items, averaging 18.4% above the advertised price.

Kroger disputed the scope of the findings, pointing to a handful of errors out of billions of yearly transactions.

Either way, the fix is the same.

Check the receipt against the shelf tag before leaving the register, since a mismatch is far easier to correct at the counter than after the drive home.

Walk out first, and the only fix left is a phone call to customer service.

New Marketplace Stores Rising Statewide

Kroger's Central Division is spending $200 million this year building, expanding, and upgrading stores across its territory, and Indiana is getting a large share of it.

The Crawfordsville project alone runs $38 million, a 123,000-square-foot Marketplace store that broke ground in January and is expected to open in early 2027.

Kroger already finished a similar project in Fishers, a 120,000-square-foot Marketplace store that opened Jan. 29, 2025, and added more than 300 jobs.

Its fuel center followed that spring.

A third store, a 99,000-square-foot Marketplace in Greenfield, got plan commission approval in July 2026 for its development plan.

The Central Division also covers parts of Illinois, but Indiana is where three of its newest Marketplace projects sit right now.

Growth isn't universal.

Two Closing Kroger Stores

Kroger is also closing stores even as it builds new ones.

The chain's plan to shut 60 locations nationwide by the end of 2026 includes two stores in northern Indiana, in South Bend and Elkhart.