Instacart Rolling Right Along With Caper Cart Updates
Instacart’s Caper Carts are taking shoppers on more, well, capers. The grocery tech company is launching three new capabilities to its smart carts that are aimed at enhancing the shopping experience in both fun and convenient ways, with gamified quests, location-based coupons and aisle-aware advertising formats.
Personalized and seamless shopping journeys are at the heart of the updates and reflect consumers’ in-store habits and preferences, according to David McIntosh, chief connected stores officer at Instacart. He shared an anecdote that underscores the drivers of the latest applications. “I went to a ShopRite in Hoboken and talked to customers about why they use Caper Carts. Number One is how it tracks totals, Number Two is the deals and discounts and Number Three is fun,” he told Progressive Grocer in a recent interview during which he demonstrated via video the new capabilities, adding, “People are spending 30 minutes engaged, making decisions about what they put in and out of the cart. From a retailer perspective, Caper isn’t just about saving time for customers. They like that, but for retailers, this increases basket sizes.”
The additional features provide an opportunity to make those baskets even bigger with more incremental revenue streams. The software updates on the Caper Carts – equipped with four cameras and a certified weights and measures scale – offer new functionalities that are a win-win-win for shoppers, grocers and brands, according to Instacart.
For example, shoppers can literally play to win through interactive mini-games that can be completed using a Caper Cart. The quests, which appear on the cart’s digital screen with lights and sounds, allow shoppers to earn rewards and credits while discovering new products and are created in partnership with retailers and brands.
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Location-based coupons are also now available on Caper Carts. Users are alerted to nearby deals as they navigate store aisles, like scoring a discount on muffins when rolling into the bakery department. “It’s the first time we are able to use that signal to personalize the experience,” McIntosh pointed out.
Instacart also made improvements to help CPGs connect with shoppers through aisle-aware ads. For instance, customers might see creative imagery featuring Cinnamon Toast Crunch on the screen, sponsored by General Mills, while they are in the cereal aisle.
The updated Caper Carts are available at select stores operated by Schnuck Markets, Inc. and Wakefern Food Corp., and in partnership with brands including General Mills and PepsiCo. According to Instacart, more than a dozen brands are piloting location-based ad formats at Schnucks.
“We’ve been excited by the positive reception we’ve seen from our Caper customers to-date. Customers love watching their running total and clipping coupons directly on the cart – which is ultimately leading to larger basket sizes,” said Bob Hardester, chief information and supply chain officer at Schnucks. “Location-based coupons and investment into an expanded advertising platform on Caper Carts have the opportunity to be game-changing when it comes to offering a personalized experience for our customers.”
Retailers currently offering Caper Carts include Bristol Farms, Fairway Market, The Fresh Grocer, Geissler’s Supermarket, Kroger, McKeever’s Market & Eatery, Price Chopper, Schnucks and ShopRite in the United States, as well as ALDI in Austria.
Instacart has increasingly focused on the carts as part of its suite of products available to retailers and brands. The company reports that it has nearly quadrupled its Caper Cart footprint over the last six months and plans to reach thousands of carts live in stores in the coming months.
As it announced the enhancements, Instacart also shared results of a new survey on consumer adoption of smart carts. Among other findings, the survey showed that 83% of consumers are receptive to using smart carts for savings and budgeting and 50% are interested in using AI to find the best deals.
San Francisco-based Instacart partners with more than 1,500 national, regional and local retail banners. The grocery tech company facilitates online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 85,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace.
