Wegmans tests smart carts
Wegmans is testing smart carts from two providers at four stores in Upstate New York, the grocer told Grocery Dive in an email. The test at Wegmans Dewitt store in Syracuse is of Instacart's smart carts, marking the grocer's first deployment of Caper Carts, the grocery technology company said in a Tuesday announcement.Wegmans also confirmed that it is upgrading its self-checkout technology as part of a "company-wide refresh cycle aimed at maintaining the most convenient checkout experience."
Dive Insight:
Wegmans began piloting smart carts years ago and is continuing to test this type of shopping and checkout solution as it evolves its in-store experience.
Instacart said in the Tuesday announcement that its Caper Carts let customers track their spending in real time, log into their grocer's loyalty program account, bag as they shop and pay directly from the cart. The Wegmans Dewitt store in Syracuse is the only location offering Caper Carts, Instacart confirmed in an email.
The carts use a combination of cameras, sensors and a digital scale to recognize items and are part of Instacart Connected Stores, a suite of technologies linking online and in-store experiences.
Instacart noted that it first partnered with Wegmans in 2017 on same-day delivery and has since expanded the collaboration to include solutions like pickup, EBT SNAP acceptance and loyalty integration.
Instacart said it does not have additional updates to share about whether it will add Caper Carts to more Wegmans stores. The grocer has over 100 stores across eight states and Washington, D.C.
Wegmans is also testing smart carts at two stores in the Rochester, New York, area and one store in the greater Buffalo, New York, area, the grocer said in the email.
"We are limiting the program to these stores as we gather customer feedback to drive improvements," Wegmans said in an emailed statement. "Our goal is to determine if Smart Cart Technology is a fit for the unique shopping assortment offered in our stores and if it meets the shopping needs of our customers."
Self-checkout is another area where the grocer is looking to streamline its checkout experience.
"Many of our stores already have the new self-checkouts and others will be gradually upgraded," the grocer said in the email.
The new machines do not accept cash, have an upgraded processing power and feature a new light pole to signal availability to consumers, according to the Democrat and Chronicle, a newspaper serving the Rochester market.
Wegmans has adjusted and tested checkout technology over the last several years. Last fall, the grocer piloted smart carts at three stores, including Perinton and Pittsford in New York, where the grocer confirmed it is currently testing smart carts, the Democrat & Chronicle reported. In 2023, Wegmans started testing smart cart technology from Shopic at two stores.
The year prior, the grocer ended its popular scan-and-go option due to unspecified "losses."
Meanwhile, Instacart has continually added features to its smart carts as it looks to make the shopping and checkout solution available at more of its retail partners. Recently, Instacart has launched shoppable displays and started testing online delivery offers for customers checking out on the smart carts. The company said in October that it had equipped the carts with technology from NVIDIA's Jetson platform to better recognize items in real-time with lower latency. Instacart told shareholders in February that it plans to test store-shelf scanning from the carts in the "future."
Last year, Instacart added gamified quests, location-based coupons and aisle-aware advertising formats to the smart carts.
Instacart continues to grow the roster of retailers using Caper Carts, with recent sign-ons including Heritage Grocers Group, Weis Markets, Geisslers, Kroger, Schnuck Markets and Wakefern Food.
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