Israeli firm Cust2Mate has announced a pilot programme for its smart shopping trolleys with Morton Williams Supermarkets, a grocery chain operating 16 stores in New York.

The 60-day pilot will employ fifty Cust2Mate smart carts at two of the chain’s locations. The pilot is scheduled to start at the end of this year. A successful pilot will lead to the full roll out in the Morton Williams supermarket chain.

The trolley streamlines the shopping experience by recognising every purchased item and enabling in-cart payment so shoppers skip queues, while allowing retail grocers to direct shoppers to discounted products and in-store promotions to manage and move inventory efficiently.

“We’re excited to introduce our state-of-the-art Cust2Mate platform to the New York market at one of the premier grocery chains in Manhattan,” said Rafi Yam, CEO of Cust2Mate. “Morton Williams has a long retail history in New York and has survived and thrived since 1946 thanks to its well-stocked, beautifully merchandised stores, as well as its commitment to embracing innovative technology to provide the best shopping experience for its customers. Our smart carts are ideal for busy NYC shoppers who value the ability to get their shopping at their leisure without having to ever stand in line.”

He said this was an important step for the company that could act as a launch pad for further pilots in the USA along with pending pilots in Mexico, the UAE and shortly in other geographical locations to give the firm a global footprint supported by its manufacturing partner Flex.

The smart cart platform automatically recognises any purchased items and enables in-cart payment so shopperts can bypass long checkout queues using anti-fraud technology. Additionally, retail grocers can direct shoppers to discounted products, in-store promotions and other offers to move inventory efficiently from the shelves into carts.