Grocery baggers are often called courtesy clerks as an official title. In very large supermarkets, they may spend almost their entire work day bagging groceries, but in smaller stores, they typically have more varied job duties.

Primary Job Duty

The main job duty for a grocery bagger is placing groceries purchased by customers into plastic or paper bags, or in cloth bags which customers bring along. They may carry the bagged groceries to the customer's car as well.

Baskets and Carts

Grocery baggers also take hand baskets left at the check-out back to their proper area, and collect shopping carts from the parking lot.

Stocking Shelves

Especially in smaller stores, the job description for grocery baggers includes stocking shelves during slower periods.

Misplaced Items

Grocery baggers also check for misplaced items, and return those where they belong. They also return any items left at the check-out which the customer decided not to buy.

Light Custodial Duties

Some stores have grocery baggers perform light custodial work, such as cleaning up broken items or spills, picking up litter in the store or in the parking lot, and restocking paper towels in restrooms.

Diversity Opportunity

Some supermarkets offer grocery bagger jobs to people with developmental disabilities as often as possible, creating secure employment opportunities for this population.