California-based online grocery firm Instacart has acquired Caper AI to gain access to its AI-powered shopping cart and checkout technology platform.

This acquisition expands Instacart’s retailer enablement platform, which spans the Instacart marketplace, robust enterprise services that power ecommerce for many top grocers, fulfilment technology to support delivery and pickup capabilities, last-kilometre delivery, and more. With this acquisition, Instacart aims to help retailers unify the in-store and online shopping experience.

New York-based Caper is reimagining the in-store shopping journey by developing AI-powered shopping carts and automated checkout counters that bring together online and offline shopping to a new in-store shopping experience. Caper’s object recognition system lets shoppers place fruits, vegetables and other items into their cart without having to scan or weigh them, and check out right at the cart.

The company also develops smart checkout counters that use cameras and a weight sensor to auto-detect items placed on its counter, creating an easier and faster express checkout flow at grocery and convenience stores.

In addition to streamlining the in-store shopping and check out process, Caper helps create more personalised shopping experiences. Its carts feature touch-enabled screens that let shoppers navigate brick-and-mortar grocery store aisles more seamlessly. The screens also make product suggestions based on what’s in a shopper’s cart.

Over time, Instacart expects to integrate Caper’s technology into the Instacart app and the ecommerce web sites and apps of its retail partners, allowing customers to build online shopping lists and browse recipes ahead of time and check off their lists as they go. And shoppers can also use the carts to find items more efficiently and bypass long checkout queues.

“Over the years, Instacart has continued to expand its retailer enablement services, helping brick-and-mortar grocers across North America move their businesses online, grow and meet the evolving needs of their customers,” said Fidji Simo, Instacart’s CEO. “As we look ahead, we’re focused on creating even more ways for retailers to develop unified commerce offerings that help address consumer needs across both online and in-store shopping. That’s why we’re thrilled to welcome the Caper AI team to Instacart. We share the same goal of equipping retailers with new and innovative technologies that help them succeed in an increasingly competitive industry, while also providing customers with the best possible experience. We’re excited to bring Caper’s leading smart carts and smart checkout platform to more retailers around the world, as we all reimagine the future of grocery together.”

For retailers, Caper’s smart cart technology provides a plug-and-play offering, requiring little capital expenditure. The technology lets brick-and-mortar retailers of all sizes deploy this technology quickly and easily in their stores, creating compelling experiences for customers and driving meaningful growth for their business by increasing average basket sizes relative to traditional shopping carts.

“We’ll continue to deepen our investment in our suite of enterprise technology services, unlocking new solutions that help power the comprehensive ecommerce platforms of retailers across North America,” said Simo. “The acquisition of Caper comes on the heels of our recent FoodStorm acquisition, which offers order-ahead and catering technology for retailers so they can increase their sales and ensure more customers are turning to them for everyday meals.”

Caper’s smart carts are deployed at some of the leading North American retailers, including Instacart partners Kroger and Wakefern, as well as Sobeys in Canada. This is in addition to their smart checkout counters in convenience stores. Caper’s smart carts were the first carts in the USA approved by the federal government’s NTEP national type evaluation programme, which certifies that it can accurately sell items that are priced by weight and measures, such as produce and bulk items.

“I’m incredibly proud of the business we’ve built and the technological leap forward our products represent for the entire grocery industry,” said Lindon Gao, CEO of Caper AI. “The powerful technology we’ve created is intuitive for customers, easy to deploy for retailers of all sizes, and creates a physical retail ecosystem that never existed before. We share Instacart’s vision of enabling grocery retailers with new innovations that create step changes for their businesses, and we’re proud to now be joining forces with Instacart to develop even more solutions that help bring the online and offline together for retailers.”

Instacart’s enterprise technology powers ecommerce platforms for local, regional and national grocers across North America, including Aldi, Costco Canada, Heinen’s, Kroger, Publix, Sprouts, The Fresh Market, Walmart Canada and Wegmans.

“At Kroger, our goal is to connect customers to food no matter how they want to shop or when they need it,” said Stephanie Jenkins, Kroger vice president. “Kroger is proud to be leading the industry in the adoption of new innovative technologies, including Caper AI smart carts, as well as partnering with Instacart on other industry-leading innovations like Kroger Delivery Now. These offerings are advancing Kroger’s thriving seamless ecosystem and providing our customers with more ways to shop with us through strategic collaborations.”

Bob Hardester, chief information and supply chain officer at Schnuck Markets, added: “We’re excited for Instacart to join forces with Caper AI to help scale their technology and make it more accessible. Caper AI’s smart carts are the most technologically advanced carts out there. We believe the ability to place items in the cart naturally without having to scan barcodes or weigh items will be a game-changer, especially for Instacart shoppers who shop on behalf of customers. We’re proud to continue working with Caper AI and Instacart to unlock even more innovations that reimagine the in-store grocery shopping experience at Schnucks stores.”

Instacart first began offering enterprise technology to grocery partners in 2017. Since then, the company has continued to make investments in its enterprise business, scaling its engineering team and developing new technologies for grocers.