Amazon announcing plans to acquire Whole Foods had everyone buzzing about the immediate impact on the grocery industry.

But one also has to wonder what will happen to the nearly 1 million Americans who work in supermarkets, ringing up purchases and bagging groceries, across the country.

When more than 900 shoppers were asked what Amazon should add or change at Whole Foods locations, the top response was adding "cashier-free checkout," according to a poll conducted by ChargeItSpot, a leading provider of cell-phone charging stations for retailers, including Nordstrom, Under Armour and Neiman Marcus.

Also of interest were "lower prices" and "in-store pickup for Amazon purchases," the survey found.

To be sure, Amazon has said it has no current plans to automate the jobs of cashiers in Whole Foods' stores after it finishes acquiring the grocery chain. It also isn't planning any layoffs, according to an Amazon spokesperson. But speculation continues to build. Especially when there are reports claiming that half of all American jobs are at risk from automation.



"When Amazon announced they would be expanding into the grocery space, shoppers were interested to see what new features would be implemented in these stores," ChargeItSpot's CEO Doug Baldasare said.

"Our survey found that shoppers want the Amazon-Whole Foods merger to upgrade the grocery store experience with additions of useful technology."

The deal between Amazon and Whole Foods, should it pan out, will advance the process of replacing people with technology, Ian Siegel, CEO of job marketplace ZipRecruiter, told CNBC.

"We already have self-checkout stations, and Amazon has demonstrated that even more advanced 'check-out' technology is possible."

The internet giant has even released a video showing what a futuristic store concept, called Amazon Go, looks like — no lines, no registers, only "just walk out" technology. Amazon Go is currently open for the company's employees at a test location in Seattle.

ZipRecruiter's Siegel said that a gradual shift in supermarkets' employment structure will also open up opportunities in new types of retail jobs, such as consultative sales, distribution and logistics within the grocery chains. So, cashiers shouldn't fear being out of a paycheck altogether, but instead looking to employ their service skills elsewhere.

The latest count from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows there were 867,920 grocery cashiers in the U.S. in 2016. Since the start of the year, the U.S. economy has shed roughly 71,000 total retail jobs, the BLS said. "Advances in technology, such as self-service checkout stands in retail stores and increasing online sales, will continue to limit the need for cashiers."

ZipRecruiter further found that job postings for grocery positions, which would include cashiers, were down 24 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to last year. Demand is evidently waning.