Instacart pilots ads on its AI-powered smart carts

Last-mile delivery service Instacart is expanding its advertising with a new pilot program that features digital ads on its AI-powered smart carts, the company announced on Monday. 

The new initiative will test the ads on its Caper Carts at Good Food Holdings’ Bristol Farms supermarkets in Southern California, and it plans to roll out the ads at more stores in the coming months, the company said in a press release. Instacart plans to deploy thousands of Caper Carts to stores across the nation throughout 2024.

Instacart said that grocers currently using or soon deploying Caper Carts also include Fairway Market, Geissler’s, ShopRite, and Sobeys. 

Instacart’s Caper Cart ads, which appear on the cart’s digital screen, will initially feature products from the company’s CPG partners Del Monte Foods, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, and General Mills. 

The ads will highlight new products and brands, deals, and seasonal promotions. Additionally, they will offer personalized product recommendations based on products customers purchase in real time, the company said. 

“For example, if a customer adds ice cream cones, they might see a complementary item recommendation, like Dreyer’s ice cream,” the company said. 

Fidji Simo, CEO and Chair of Instacart, said in a statement that the acquisition of Caper AI, which developed the smart carts, in 2021 was one of her major decisions after taking the helm as CEO. She said the new ads “will further enable thousands of CPG brands to connect with high-intent customers with measurable results – all in the ways people choose to shop.”

The carts use AI-powered computer vision to enable customers to place items into the cart and have them automatically added to their digital checkout list. After completing their shopping, customers can check out directly from the cart.