Schnucks to deploy Instacart smart carts this fall

Schnuck Markets announced Wednesday that it will begin deploying smart shopping carts in select stores in St. Louis this fall through its partnership with San Francisco-based tech company Instacart. 

The so-called Caper Carts developed by Instacart use artificial intelligence and "computer vision” to enable shoppers to skip the checkout line and pay for their purchases from anywhere in the store, the company said. Schnuck’s plans to expand the program to more stores later this year. 

“As a third and fourth generation, family-owned grocer, we’re always thinking about how we can best serve our customers while also driving the digital transformation of the grocery industry. As part of that effort, we’re proud to deepen our partnership with Instacart and further bridge the gap between in-store and online shopping for Schnucks customers,” said Chace MacMullan, Schnuck Market’s senior director of digital experience, in a statement. “We believe the future of grocery will lean heavily into personalization–whether it’s achieved through in-store smart carts or by providing the best possible e-commerce experience for our customers. We aim to make customers feel like each shopping experience was custom-made for them, and we’re excited to take another big step forward with the rollout of this pilot of Instacart’s Caper Carts.” 

Schnuck’s noted that some of the carts will include a bottom rack for large or heavy items. The grocer will also test a “lite version” of the carts that allows shoppers to scan items before placing them into the cart.  

The company described the new carts, which pose a challenge to the Amazon Dash Carts that are being deployed in Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, as the only carts on the market that offer “stacked charging,” which do not require individual charging or individual battery swaps.  

Shoppers can also connect their Schnuck Rewards account to the cart while at the store to receive clipped promotions and view the weekly circular.  

The St. Louis-based grocer noted in its announcement that it has partnered with Instacart on a variety of initiatives for its omnichannel strategy since 2017, including e-commerce, advertising and pricing.  

The announcement follows the expansion of Amazon’s AI-powered smart carts earlier this year, when the online retailer deployed its Amazon Dash Carts at its fourth location in the country, a Whole Foods located in the Denver suburb of Southglenn.