Dive Brief:
- Wegmans is testing smart cart technology from Shopic at two stores, a spokesperson for the grocer said in an email. A Shopic representative confirmed that the company is working with Wegmans on the project.
- One test is taking place at a store the supermarket chain operates on Alberta Drive in Amherst, New York, and another is underway at Wegmans’ Monroe Avenue location in Rochester, New York, according to The Buffalo News, which first reported the development.
- The smart test comes just months after Wegmans ended its popular scan-and-go option due to unspecified “losses.”
Dive Insight:
The Wegmans spokesperson noted that smart carts are an early-stage technology and that the grocery chain is in the preliminary stage of a “Test & Learn” pilot — indicating that Wegmans is in no rush to roll out a smart cart solution on a broad scale.
“[We] recently selected customers to test the new technology as we take an iterative approach and focus on gathering feedback from a small group of customers,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Since we are in the early stages of our limited pilot, we aren’t yet able to share any specifics on next steps.”
Shopic’s smart cart technology is based on a clip-on unit that shoppers take from a rack and attach to an ordinary cart during their trip around the store. The device employs computer vision to identify products as people put them in the cart and is equipped with a screen that displays pricing and other details about each item. The artificial intelligence-driven system allows shoppers to pay for their purchases directly on the unit, according to Shopic.
Shopic is among a range of companies operating in the smart cart space. The group also includes Veeve, Amazon, Instacart-owned Caper AI and Cust2Mate, all of which have developed specialized carts that have product-scanning equipment permanently mounted to them.
In August, Shopic announced it raised $35 million in a Series B funding round led by Qualcomm Ventures, bringing its total amount of financing from investors to $56 million. The summer prior, Shopic nabbed $10 million in funding.
