Instacart debuts AI-powered ‘smart carts’ to NYC retailers

Lifestyle

by the Georgia Worrell

The future is in aisle five.

Artificial intelligence-powered smart carts are rolling out in Big Apple supermarkets — and they do practically everything but cook.

Instacart’s Caper Carts use AI to identify items, their price and produce weight – and allow shoppers to check out stress-free with a click of a touchscreen.

“2024 is the new 2050,” a TikTok user, @em.ly.x, captioned a Feb. 8 video of her using the Keeper Cart at a ShopRite store.

The carts — which are at Fairway Market in Kips Bay and a handful of ShopRites on Staten Island in New Jersey — can also save customers a buck or two.

If a customer spends $35 or more, when they check out, the touchscreen prompts them to spin a wheel that gives them $2, $5 or $10 off their entire purchase.

And if the cart user is part of Fairway’s membership program, they receive a higher markdown.

“I love the rebates … twice I got $10 off – that’s great,” she said.

“Here’s the funny thing: I would never go to self-checkout. But if they’re going to give me an incentive, and I’m able to get paid to do it, why not? Tudor City resident T. “It’s a great deal,” said Cat Ford, who travels 11 blocks to use the carts on the fairway.

“The other good thing about it is that you see what you’re spending” on the touch screen, he added.

Fairway shopper Geraldine Holey was also surprised by the savings.

The tech, which debuted on Fairway in October, still has some glitches — like Holly’s cart, which didn’t automatically detect some of the items she’d put into it.

Hawley added that kipper carts are heavier than their Stone Age counterparts.

“It’s hard to turn it…they should just get lighter,” he said.

Their price is also high. High-tech carts can reportedly fetch up to $10,000 — about 100 times the price of basic metal vehicles.

An Instacart spokesperson said Hoylie’s experience with Caper Carts was “not ideal.”

“[We] Certainly want to recognize that this is a new technology that many customers may not have used before…and when there are issues, there are people on the ground for that,” the spokesperson said.

ShopRite and Fairway Markets customers still have to check out traditionally because Wakefern Food Corporation, which owns the grocery store brands, didn’t want card readers on its Caper Carts, according to an Instacart spokesperson.

Soon, however, customers won’t need to ask which aisle the milk is in, as modern carts will offer a map of the grocery store — as well as recipe recommendations based on the items in them, the spokeswoman said. .