Overview
- Morrisons has begun a live trial of Instacart’s Caper Carts at its Riversway store in Preston, marking the first UK test of the AI-equipped trolleys.
- The carts use onboard cameras and built-in scales to identify items as they are added, show a running total on a touchscreen, and link to Morrisons More loyalty offers.
- When shoppers finish, each cart generates a barcode that can be scanned at self-checkout to complete payment, removing the need to scan items at the till.
- Shoppers have raised concerns online about theft, vandalism and durability, and Morrisons and Instacart say the carts include anti-theft signalling, weatherproofing and automatic battery charging as mitigations.
- The trial will determine whether the technology is rolled out more widely and follows existing deployments of Caper Carts by major US and international retailers.