Grocery technology company in North America Instacart, and Australian retailer Coles Supermarkets, have announced the rollout of Caper Carts, Instacart’s AI-powered smart trolleys, at its Richmond Traders location in Melbourne.
Caper Carts are equipped with AI, cameras, and a built-in scale, which work together to automatically recognise items as they are added to the trolley. Caper Carts enable customers to bag as they shop and watch their running total – similar to an online shopping experience. At the end of their shopping, customers can conveniently checkout directly from the trolley.
Caper Carts sync to Coles’ Flybuys rewards program, allowing customers to earn points as they shop. Equipped with gamified capabilities, customers also have the chance to win discounts by spinning a digital wheel on the trolley’s screen at checkout.
Coles is the first retailer in the APAC region to launch Instacart’s Caper Carts, as well as the first retailer in Australia to introduce AI-powered trolleys. Demonstrating its commitment to meeting its customers’ rising digital usage, the Coles Smart Trolley is creating an easier, faster and more enjoyable omnichannel shopping experience for customers – bringing the benefits of online shopping to the in-store journey.
“Coles Supermarkets is our ideal partner to introduce Caper Carts in the APAC region because we share a similar vision for creating a personalized shopping experience that delights customers,” said David McIntosh, Chief Connected Stores Officer at Instacart. “We’ve already heard first-hand from Coles customers how the trolleys are easy to use, while enabling them to track their spending and bag as they shop. Caper Carts are transforming the chore of shopping into an adventure, leveraging Edge AI-powered systems to make the shopping experience fun and personalised. We’re excited to bring Caper Carts to Australia in partnership with Coles and continue to collaborate to deliver the best possible in-store shopping experience, bringing what customers love best about online shopping into the store, and vice-versa.”
“We’re proud to be the first retailer in Australia to offer AI-powered smart trolleys to our customers, bringing our omnichannel vision to life,” said Ben Levinson, General Manager for Digital Product at Coles. “Caper Carts help our customers bag as they shop, manage their budget, and save time with faster checkout – all while providing a more personalised shopping experience. We’re always looking for new ways to further improve the customer shopping experience and are excited to introduce smart shopping trolleys as another convenient way to shop our aisles.”
Caper Carts bring the attributes of online grocery shopping to the store experience. “The smart trolleys enable retailers like Coles to offer their customers a way to save money on food and grocery essentials, while delivering a delightful shopping experience as they shop the store aisles.
“In the US – where more than a dozen grocers have launched Caper Carts – customer reception has been notably strong with customers offering a net promoter score of more than 70 at ramped locations, in line with some of the world’s most loved brands.”
Caper Carts are part of Instacart’s Connected Stores suite of technologies, built to help grocers bridge the online and in-store shopping experience.
For more information about Instacart’s Caper Carts and Connected Stores, visit instacart.com/company/retailer-platform/connected-stores.
