Dive Brief:
- Instacart is expanding its smart cart deployment with two grocery partners in the Kansas City, Missouri, area.
- A Price Chopper in Parkville, Missouri, and a McKeever’s Market & Eatery in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, have introduced the artificial intelligence-powered carts, with a broader deployment set for the coming months, Instacart announced Tuesday.
- Smart carts have increasingly gained traction with grocers using them as both frictionless technology solutions and ways to offer up in-store retail media.
Dive Insight:
Instacart is positioning its smart carts as a way to “make shopping an adventure” and boost personalized shopping experiences. David McIntosh, vice president and general manager of Connected Stores at Instacart, said in a statement that customers usually spend about 30 minutes using smart carts per visit.
Caper Carts are equipped with artificial intelligence, cameras, sensors and a built-in scale for automated product recognition. The carts’ screens let users access personalized shopping experiences, track spending and add their loyalty program information to access coupons and deals.
"Our adoption of Instacart’s AI-powered Caper Carts is a significant step towards modernizing how we serve our customers,” McKeever's Chief Technology Officer Tim Cosens said in a statement.
Price Chopper has partnered with Instacart since 2017 and recently introduced Instacart Storefront to power its e-commerce website. Price Chopper has 52 stores in the Kansas City area while McKeever’s has a second store, which is located in Lenexa, Kansas.
Grocers including ShopRite, Schnuck Markets and Geissler’s Supermarkets have also rolled out the smart carts, which are housed under Instacart’s Connected Stores suite of solutions.
Instacart added smart carts to its package of offerings when it bought Caper AI for $350 million in 2021.
Last September, Instacart unveiled several updates to its Caper Carts, including allowing customers to order made-to-order items such as deli sandwiches.
Earlier this year, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo said the company expects to deploy thousands of its screen-equipped carts in grocery stores by the end of 2024.
