MANHATTAN, N.Y. — A new survey by Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, and GroceryDive’s studioID reveals that grocers across the United States believe smart carts are the place where artificial intelligence (AI) will have the biggest industry impact moving forward. Instacart, maker of Caper Cart — the AI-powered smart cart — and GroceryDive surveyed 150 grocery industry respondents to gain insights not only into grocers’ strategic technological solutions, but the ways grocers are decreasing friction throughout the shopping experience, and leveraging the innovations available now.
Some of the key findings:
- Current AI usage focuses largely on operations such as monitoring produce freshness or detecting out-of-stock items.
- Grocers believe AI will soon take on an increasingly customer-facing role, including personalizing ads and promotions.
- 60% of survey respondents believe smart carts will soon be the most impactful application for AI in grocery retail.
“From a consumer standpoint, the experience in a grocery store has been unchanged for the last several decades,” said Ahmed Beshry, Caper Co-Founder and Senior Director of Business Development at Instacart. “Customers are seeing tech everywhere around them, but they haven’t seen their stores changing for the better. With Caper Carts, we’re able to leverage technology to bridge the online and in-store shopping experience. We’re taking what customers love about shopping online, and blending it with their favorite parts of shopping in-store.”
In the survey, 47% of respondents emphasized the “high priority” of ensuring that new technology integration serves to enhance the customer experience. In an open-ended followup question, grocers said smart carts, such as Caper Carts, can do this in myriad ways. Recurring responses included:
- Increased engagement with loyalty programs
- More personalized customer deals
- Seamless item scanning capabilities
- Easier approaches to weighing produce
- Smoother checkout process
In addition, survey respondents identified ways these same smart carts can benefit grocers directly. Among those avenues:
- Average basket size
- Capturing valuable customer data (where permitted by applicable laws and contract terms)
- Analyzing shopping patterns and trends to optimize store layouts
- Positioning themselves as innovative and customer-focused
Another survey question showed that retail media networks remain top of mind for grocers across the industry. 85% of respondents said the ability of a smart cart to generate revenue through displaying targeted digital ads was impactful to their decision making about implementing them.
Ads on Caper Carts are a new in-store retail media offering building on the Instacart online advertising platform. Retailers that enable ads on Caper Carts will have the ability to grow their revenue through a revenue share model, in addition to driving increased consumer engagement in-store. With ads on Caper Carts, brands can display dynamic recommendations while customers are shopping the store’s aisles. Ads on Caper Carts give shoppers more customized recommendations and introduce experiences to help them discover new brands and products. On average, customers spend over 30 minutes shopping with a Caper Cart.
“The ultimate omnichannel platform for us is the Caper Cart’s screen,” said Chris McCrae, Retail Technology and Innovation Lead at Wakefern Food Corp., “If we know you normally buy a certain laundry detergent every six weeks, and it’s been six weeks and you haven’t bought it, well, here’s a CPG-sponsored coupon to incentivize you to add that to your cart. Take all of the best personalization and engagement opportunities on engrossing websites, and we now have that opportunity down the aisle, in front of the item, at the point of decision. This is our roadmap with Caper, and we’re off to a great start.” Wakefern is the parent company for approximately 380 stores across a half-dozen banners and deploys Caper Carts at many of its ShopRite stores.
Caper Carts are or will soon be deployed across North American retailers, including Bristol Farms, Fairway Market, Geissler’s, Kroger, McKeever’s Market & Eatery, Price Chopper, Schnucks, ShopRite, Sobeys, and other local and independent grocers as well as ALDI in Austria. Since introducing Caper Carts, Schnucks reported customers using the carts are purchasing larger baskets. On peak days, Caper Carts have processed more than 10% of in-store sales at a Schnucks store where only 10 Caper Carts were deployed alongside approximately 160 traditional carts.”
To read more findings from the survey, please click here: [link]
Survey Methodology
Instacart collaborated with studioID to field an online, invitation-only survey, polling 150 grocery leaders in April 2024. The survey consisted of multiple-choice, open-ended, Likert-scale and matrix questions. The questionnaire consisted of themes to better understand grocers’ technology adoption strategies, AI implementation and smart cart familiarity. One-third (33%) of respondents were C-suite executives. Ninety-five percent of respondents worked at companies that operated fewer than 20 stores.
About studioID by Industry Dive
studioID is Industry Dive’s global content studio, offering brands an ROI-rich toolkit: deep industry expertise, first-party audience insights, an editorial approach to brand storytelling, and targeted distribution capabilities. Its trusted in-house content marketers help brands power insights-fueled content programs that nurture prospects and customers from discovery through to purchase, connecting brand to demand. Visit www.studioid.com to learn more.
About Instacart
Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, works with grocers and retailers to transform how people shop. The company partners with more than 1,500 national, regional, and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 85,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace. Instacart makes it possible for millions of people to get the groceries they need from the retailers they love, and for approximately 600,000 Instacart shoppers to earn by picking, packing and delivering orders on their own flexible schedule. The Instacart Platform offers retailers a suite of enterprise-grade technology products and services to power their e-commerce experiences, fulfill orders, digitize brick-and-mortar stores, provide advertising services, and glean insights. With Instacart Ads, thousands of CPG brands – from category leaders to emerging brands – partner with the company to connect directly with consumers online, right at the point of purchase. With Instacart Health, the company is providing tools to increase nutrition security, make healthy choices easier for consumers, and expand the role that food can play in improving health outcomes. For more information, visit www.instacart.com/company, and to start shopping, visit www.instacart.com.
