Utah Independent Grocer Puts Smart Carts to Work
Shoppers at Davis Food & Drug stores in Utah will be able to zip around the store with an advanced smart cart. Instacart announced that it is working with the family-run independent grocer to add AI-powered Caper Carts to three locations.
Caper Carts are designed to make the shopping experience faster and more convenient for customers, enabling them to scan products as they shop. Davis Food & Drug stores in the towns of La Verkin, Roosevelt and Vernal will add the units over the coming months.
"At Davis Food & Drug, putting our customers first is at the heart of everything we do. Introducing Caper Carts is part of our ongoing commitment to not just keep up with industry trends, but to lead them, ensuring our customers enjoy the most convenient and innovative shopping experience possible," said Constantine Davis, the grocer’s president. "This is how we're growing our business - by making every visit to our stores easier, rewarding, and more fun for everyone who walks through our doors.”
Nick Nickitas, general manager, local independent grocery at Instacart, said that the Davis operation has a tech-forward history. "Davis Food & Drug has been a fantastic partner since their adoption of Rosie in 2016, and we're thrilled to now team up and bring Caper Carts to their stores," he remarked.
Part of Instacart’s Connected Stores suite of technologies, Caper Carts are in place at several grocery stores around the country. Earlier this summer, Instacart expanded its partnership with Wakefern Food Corp. to add more carts to ShopRite stores in the Philadelphia, area and deployed the technology to select Price Chopper and McKeever’s Market & Eatery stores in Missouri.
Davis Food & Drug stores are owned by Jim and Debbie Davis, who bought two former Safeway/Farmer Jack grocery stores in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and moved the business to Vernal in 1988. Their sons, Constantine Davis and Lee Davis, joined the business in 2009.
