Fast Five Shorts | How Long Before We Are All Grocery Shopping Via Smart Carts?

Summary

Omni Talk Retail: Episode Summary

Title: Fast Five Shorts | How Long Before We Are All Grocery Shopping Via Smart Carts?
Host/Authors: Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga
Release Date: July 3, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Omni Talk Retail, hosts Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga delve into the emerging trend of smart shopping carts in grocery stores. Focusing on the recent pilot program by Instacart at Wegmans DeWitt in Syracuse, New York, the discussion explores the potential and challenges of integrating AI-powered technology into everyday grocery shopping.

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Overview of Instacart's Smart Carts Pilot

The episode kicks off with Speaker A outlining the basics of the pilot program:

[00:00] Speaker A: "Wegmans is piloting Instacart's caper cart. According to an Instacart press release, Instacart yesterday announced the launch of its AI powered smart carts at Wegmans DeWitt store in Syracuse, New York."

These caper carts are designed to provide a seamless shopping experience by automatically recognizing items as they are placed in the cart, allowing customers to bag items as they shop and log their progress through their shopper club accounts.

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Expert Insights: Potential and Limitations

Speaker B offers a nuanced perspective on the smart cart initiative:

[01:01] Speaker B: "I think that the bigger play here for Wegmans and why Wegmans has moved forward with this is really about, you know, they've just relaunched their loyalty app... to test a smart cart more from a consumer targeting perspective and the money that they could bring in from brands from retail media."

While acknowledging the benefits in terms of customer data and retail media opportunities, Speaker B remains cautious about the universal applicability of smart carts:

[02:50] Speaker B: "I'm still not sold on this idea that they're the right move for everybody everywhere."

He emphasizes that while smart carts can enhance throughput during high-traffic periods, their long-term viability beyond pilot programs remains uncertain.

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Consumer Perspectives and Retail Fundamentals

Speaker A shares additional insights from a conversation with Ethan Chernofsky of Placer AI, highlighting foundational retail principles:

[02:50] Speaker A: "...it's about retail 101. It's not about the fancy glossy tech that, you know, get people excited."

She expresses skepticism, noting that many successful retailers like Sprouts and Trader Joe's do not employ such advanced technologies, suggesting that smart carts may not be essential for effective retail operations.

Furthermore, Speaker A recounts a personal anecdote illustrating consumer resistance to even self-checkout technologies:

[03:00] Speaker A: "my nurse asked me what we, what I did and I told her, yeah, podcaster. And she's like... she started asking me, well, what do you think about self checkout?... when you look at the costs involved here. Will ever be a formidable solution at scale?"

This underscores the challenge of consumer adoption, even with less complex technologies.

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Economic Viability and Retail Media Opportunities

The conversation shifts to the economic aspects of deploying smart carts. Speaker B questions whether the potential revenue from retail media justifies the substantial investment:

[05:07] Speaker B: "How good is the retail media opportunity and is it enough to pay off some of this investment?"

Both speakers agree that there are more cost-effective methods to capture retail media dollars without heavily investing in customer-facing technologies. The financial implications of scaling smart carts across multiple stores remain a significant hurdle.

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Conclusion and Future Outlook

As the discussion wraps up, Speaker B suggests firsthand evaluation of the pilot program:

[05:23] Speaker B: "We'll see. We'll see. We'll have to make a trip out to DeWitt and test it for ourselves with Syracuse."

The hosts conclude with an open-ended contemplation of the future of smart carts in retail, acknowledging both their innovative potential and the substantial challenges they face in achieving widespread adoption.

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Key Takeaways

• Smart Carts as Data Tools: Beyond facilitating shopping, smart carts like Instacart's caper carts offer valuable consumer data for retail media strategies.

• Consumer Adoption Challenges: Even with technologies less advanced than smart carts, such as self-checkout, consumer resistance poses a significant barrier.

• Economic Considerations: The high costs of implementing smart carts at scale may not be justifiable solely by the benefits they provide, especially when more affordable retail media solutions exist.

• Pilot Programs as Testing Grounds: Single-store pilots are valuable for experimentation but do not guarantee broader success, highlighting the experimental nature of current deployments.

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Notable Quotes

• Speaker A [00:00]: "Wegmans is piloting Instacart's caper cart... a smarter, more seamless way to shop in store."

• Speaker B [01:01]: "They've just relaunched their loyalty app... to test a smart cart more from a consumer targeting perspective."

• Speaker A [02:50]: "It's about retail 101. It's not something you need to be a good, effective retailer."

• Speaker B [05:07]: "How good is the retail media opportunity and is it enough to pay off some of this investment?"

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This episode provides a balanced examination of smart carts in retail, weighing technological innovation against practical challenges and economic feasibility. For retailers considering similar technologies, the insights from Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga offer valuable considerations on whether smart carts align with their strategic goals and customer preferences.

Transcript

[A]

Wegmans is piloting Instacart's caper cart. According to an Instacart press release, Instacart yesterday announced the launch of its AI powered smart carts at Wegmans DeWitt store in Syracuse, New York. This marks the first deployment of caper carts at Wegmans as part of an initial store program offering customers a smarter, more seamless way to shop in store. Caper carts, for those who have not been listening to Omnitop regularly for the past five or so years, enable customers to track their spending and checkout seamlessly. Kaper carts automatically recognize items as they are dropped into the cart and customers can bag as they shop. Tapping signals from an array of capercard cameras, a digital scale and location sensors, Wegmans customers can log into their shoppers club account on the cart screen in order to shop with the caper cart. And my question for you is, is Wegmans Capercart pilot a sign that will that we will soon all be shopping grocery stores via smart carts? What do you think?

[B]

You know, I don't know that that's what this indicates. As we told David McIntosh at Shop Talk Europe, I love David. I even suggested that he become Fiji Simo's CEO successor at Instacart. I think he's doing really smart things, but I would say I'm still kind of what the kids would say mid on smart cards. And specifically in this, in this use case, I wasn't able to see the current checkout scenario at Wegmans and DeWitt. Like I did some research and tried to see if we could see, see what that setup looks like. So I'm just going off of my experience from the Astroplace store and I think what is really important for Wegmans right now in that store and I imagine in a lot of the other stores with as, as beloved as they are as a retailer is that it's all about throughput, getting the most people, especially during those high traffic times, through the store as quickly as possible. And I think the smart carts here do enable, you know, people to get through that line a little bit more quickly. They don't have to go the self checkout route. But I think that the bigger play here for Wegmans and why Wegmans has moved forward with this is really about, you know, they've just relaunched their loyalty app that you just talked about this year and I think that the timing is now right for them to test this kind of thing, to test a smart cart more from a consumer targeting perspective and the money that they could bring in from brands from retail media and getting to really understand and know their customer a little bit and build engagement with that loyalty app. So, you know, smart carts, we've always said yes from that perspective. They're a great play when you're trying to learn your customer to use it for retail media instances. But I still am not. If you're, if you're asking more broadly, I'm still not sold on this idea that they're the right move for everybody everywhere. But what, what, where do you sit in this?

[A]

Yeah, so you said you're mid, so you're kind of hedging a little bit. You know, it's funny, like I was, I was on the negative side going into today and then you and I actually just recorded a, a webinar conversation with Ethan Chernofsky of Placer AI and as I was sitting there having that conversation with him, he made this comment about, you know, at the end of the day, it's about retail 101. It's not about the fancy glossy tech that, you know, get people excited. And so for that reason, I still put this in that bucket. This is not retailing 101. This is not something you need to be a good, effective retailer. See sprouts, see Trader Joe's, they don't have this kind of stuff. So I'm still not there that this is going to work in the long term. And, and I get what's pushing it 100%. It's retail media. But there are much lower hanging pieces of fruit to capture retail media dollars. And the features of the smart cart itself just aren't that big of a hook for most people. And the one store nature of this test also frightens me and. Because it means, it means it's truly experimental. Heck, I was at the doctor yesterday and my nurse asked me what we, what I did and I told her, yeah, podcaster. And she's like. And the other. And she started asking me, well, what do you think about self checkout? And she was younger than me and she was telling me how she hates self checkout and her parents hate it too. And so when I put that together, like, you know, we're not even in a place where a self checkout machine is a must. So I still have trouble seeing where retailers are going to end up putting what is very much an expensive capital investment towards deploying smart cards at scale. And for that reason, when I go back to what makes a good retailer, I just don't think smart cards, when you look at the costs involved here. Will ever be a formidable solution at scale? I don't know, but yeah, I mean.

[B]

And the resources involved that are. That go towards just one. A one store pilot like this, too. I mean, I think that's. That's an important part of what you're saying too, is right. That's a good. Dedicate a whole team to divert from just improving traditional checkout in the majority of your stores to really kind of start to test this and see if this is a viable option. And, you know. Yeah. Is the. I guess the question still remains, like, how good is the retail media opportunity and is it enough to pay off some of this. This investment? I don't know that we'll see that from this one particular piece of technology.

[A]

Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. And there's so many more things you could be doing to get retail media dollars that are cheaper and more efficient, that don't even touch your customer in the same way.

[B]

Right, Exactly. Exactly. Well, we'll see. We'll see. We'll have to make a trip out to DeWitt and test it for ourselves with Syracuse.

[A]

Let's go.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Northern New York, Upstate New York. Let's do it, Ann.