Instacart Pulls the Plug on Its Caper Smart Carts

Instacart is winding down its smart cart business. The grocery technology company said retailer adoption was not strong enough to justify further investment in the equipment.

"Retailers and brands today are balancing a number of competing priorities, and we're seeing them prioritize investments in solutions that can modernize stores at scale," Instacart said in its announcement. "While Caper is a great product, the business reality is that retailer adoption has not scaled quickly enough to justify our continued investment."

The company said the next phase of its in-store strategy will centre on intelligence and software. It argues that its software, data and artificial intelligence give it an edge in telling retailers and brands how their stores perform. It recently unveiled in-store software that gives grocers and CPG brands "a live view of stores".

Five years of work

The decision undoes about half a decade of effort. Instacart bought Caper AI five years ago for $350 million in cash and stock. It pitched the carts to shoppers as a way to make shopping feel like a game, find items faster and see a running tally on the screen. For brands, the screens offered new in-store space for targeted ads.

Last year, Instacart stepped up efforts to spread the carts. It added several customer-facing tools to the screens and linked up with point-of-sale equipment suppliers to reach independent grocery and convenience stores.

Until Monday, the company sounded upbeat about changing shopping habits and the ad revenue potential of Caper, even though in-store adoption was limited and experts worried about the technology's high cost. In early August, CEO Chris Rogers told investors that Caper kept scaling with new and existing partners. He named Weis Markets and Lakesfront in the US, and partners in the UK.

This summer, Instacart acquired Arpalus, whose AI-powered system lets workers record product levels on shelves with a smartphone app. The company said at the time that the technology would help its workers fill orders more accurately.

Source: Grocery Dive