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Two Wakefern Food Corp. supermarket banners are rolling out new artificial intelligence-powered carts that allow shoppers to scan and pay for items directly from the device.

After recently launching at ShopRite in Spotswood, the latest model of Instacart‘s smart cart solution, Caper Cart, will soon be available at a Fairway Market in Manhattan, the companies said in a June 22 press release.

Equipped with scales, sensors, touchscreens and computer vision, Caper Cart automatically recognizes and rings up groceries, provides shopping recommendations, assists with store navigation and allows customers to check out directly from the smart cart.

According to the companies, after popular grocery delivery service platform Instacart acquired Caper Cart in 2021, ShopRite began piloting the technology last year.

David McIntosh, vice president and general manager of Connected Stores, Instacart’s omnichannel solutions initiative, said, “We’re thrilled to extend our partnership with Wakefern Food Corp. by bringing our newest Caper Carts to the ShopRite of Spotswood and Fairway Market in New York City. This expansion will elevate the in-store shopping experience with a personalized and seamless experience.”

Now, shoppers at ShopRite in Spotswood can try out the next gen Caper Cart, which holds 65% more than the previous version and lets them link their store loyalty account directly to the screen to apply any digital coupons.

Additionally, the cart offers stacked charging, which means retailers don’t have to charge them individually or swap out batteries.

Wakefern’s chief information officer Cheryl Williams commented, “We’re delighted to work with Instacart to bring this innovative technology to our customers at some of our stores.”

“Our goal is to offer our customers the best possible shopping experience, and the new, enhanced Caper Cart streamlines the shopping and check out process while offering new opportunities to engage with customers at the point of purchase,” she said.

Caper Cart isn’t the only frictionless technology that Wakefern is piloting. 

As part of an initiative to explore the possible future use of grab-and-go shopping technology, Wakefern launched an AI-powered convenience store in January at its corporate offices in Edison through a partnership with autonomous checkout technology developer Trigo.

Many stores in the co-op are now using mobile scan, which allows shoppers to scan groceries with their smart phone, and experimenting with smart shopping carts, as well as expanding and improving self-checkout terminals, the company told NJBIZ earlier this year.