Australian retail chain Coles Supermarkets has become the first in the Asia Pacific region to deploy Caper Carts, Instacart’s AI-powered smart trolleys.

Coles is using California-based Instacart AI-powered smart trolleys at its Richmond Traders location in Melbourne. Customers can now bag as they shop and pay directly on the trolley for a seamless in-store shopping experience.

Shoppers can find the trolleys at the front entrance of the Coles Richmond Traders supermarket. Caper Carts are equipped with AI, cameras and a built-in scale, which work together to recognise items automatically as they are added to the trolley. Caper Carts enable customers to bag as they shop and watch their running total, similar to an online shopping experience. At the end of their shopping, they can checkout directly from the trolley.

Caper Carts sync to Coles’ Flybuys rewards programme, allowing customers to earn points as they shop. They can scan their Flybuys card or Coles app to access personalised offers instantly and view in-store specials on the trolley’s digital screen. When they shop in-store with Caper Carts, they can later view purchased items under their buy-it-again list on the Coles app and web site. Equipped with gamified capabilities, they also have the chance to win discounts by spinning a digital wheel on the trolley’s screen at checkout.

Coles is the first retailer in Apac to launch Instacart’s Caper Carts, as well as the first retailer in Australia to introduce AI-powered trolleys. The trolley is creating an easier and faster omnichannel shopping experience for customers, bringing the benefits of online shopping to the in-store journey.

“Coles Supermarkets is our ideal partner to introduce Caper Carts in the Apac region because we share a similar vision for creating a personalised shopping experience that delights customers,” said David McIntosh, chief connected stores officer at Instacart. “We’ve already heard first-hand from Coles customers how the trolleys are easy to use, while enabling them to track their spending and bag as they shop. Caper Carts are transforming the chore of shopping into an adventure, leveraging edge AI-powered systems to make the shopping experience fun and personalised. We’re excited to bring Caper Carts to Australia in partnership with Coles and continue to collaborate to deliver the best possible in-store shopping experience, bringing what customers love best about online shopping into the store, and vice-versa.”

Ben Levinson, general manager at Coles, added: “We’re proud to be the first retailer in Australia to offer AI-powered smart trolleys to our customers, bringing our omnichannel vision to life. Caper Carts help our customers bag as they shop, manage their budget, and save time with faster checkout, all while providing a more personalised shopping experience. We’re always looking for new ways to further improve the customer shopping experience and are excited to introduce smart shopping trolleys as another convenient way to shop our aisles.”

The smart trolleys enable retailers like Coles to offer their customers a way to save money on food and grocery essentials, while improving the experience as they shop the store aisles. In the USA – where more than a dozen grocers have launched Caper Carts – customer reception has been strong with a net promoter score of more than 70 at ramped locations.

Caper Carts are part of Instacart’s Connected Stores suite of technologies (www.instacart.com/company/retailer-platform/connected-stores), built to help grocers bridge the online and in-store shopping experience. 

Instacart (www.instacart.com) partners with more than 1500 national, regional and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 85,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace.

Coles (www.colesgroup.com.au) has more than 1800 supermarkets and liquor stores in Australia. It employs more than 120,000 people, engages with more than 8000 suppliers, and welcomes millions of customers through its store network and digital platforms every week.