For the past eight months, shoppers at a few select Schnucks stores have been part of a grand experiment. And the experiment is about to get much bigger.
The St. Louis-based grocer has been part of a pilot project for Caper Carts, new smart carts invented by Instacart and powered by artificial intelligence. Thanks to four strategically positioned cameras, these carts know what items you’ve put in your cart. They know how much each bag of produce weighs and that the wine bottle you added means someone needs to check your ID. They know when digital coupons are available for each product (and are eager to make sure you know, too). They give you a running tally on your bill and can take your payment in the middle of an aisle—no need to visit a checkout station, much less take your groceries out of your cart.
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The experience is basically self-scan on wheels, and one that’s remarkably easy to use. Says Chace MacMullan, Schnucks senior director of digital experience, “Some customers now, this is the only way they’ll shop.”
Schnucks first rolled out 10 Caper Carts at three stores last April: Lindenwood, Cottleville, and Twin Oaks. They’ve proven so popular, the grocer is now planning to add four more Missouri stores by the end of March (Richmond Center, Butler Hill, Arsenal, and O’Fallon), as well as its first in Illinois (Swansea). MacMullan says the quintet was chosen for a simple reason: “These are all high-volume stores.”
And high-volume stores on high-volume days are where the carts shine. While the cameras that put the “smart” in “smart cart” work swiftly, they do require some human participation: If you’re putting bananas in your cart, you not only have to tell them they’re bananas, but choose between organic or not. Some checkout clerks can do that in seconds; most of us won’t be nearly so fast.
But then think about a situation like Schnucks endured a week and a half ago, when snowstorms were barreling toward St. Louisans were in a frenzy of stocking up eggs, bread, and milk. Lines of customers snaked through the stores.
Not all customers. At Caper Carts stores, some shoppers could breeze right past them—and unpack their groceries right into the car. (Schnucks offers a special stand of bags near the entrance so you can bag items even as you add them to the cart.) That’s a serious perk, and it doesn’t need to be the night before a snowstorm for it to come in handy.
Indeed, Schnucks has been surprised by just who is taking advantage of the high-tech option. MacMullan was demonstrating the smart carts to a TV reporter a few months ago when he was approached by an 82-year-old veteran, buttonholing the journalist to explain how much he loved the option. “We had an expectation of who our users would be,” MacMullan says. “Our experience has been completely different. It’s all demographics, all ages, male, female.”
It can also be people who want to save money. As part of its partnership with Schnucks, Instacart offers some Caper Cart-specific deals. Says MacMullan, “We pushed them to make enhancements that we thought customers really wanted.”
The company is focused on innovating in ways that will help consumers. It boasts being the first grocery chains in the country to have electronic shelf labels in all of its stores—allowing it to change prices without having to print new labels. In another partnership with Instacart, the company’s shoppers can hit a button to find an item—and the shelf label helpfully flashes. In time, MacMullan hopes that Caper Carts will have that same functionality: Can’t find the spaghetti sauce that’s on sale? Just get close, indicate you need help on the cart’s smart screen, and wait for the shelf label to flash. Schnucks is also working with Instacart so that shopping lists created on the Schnucks app will load directly into the Caper Cart once customers log in.
Of course not everyone wants flashing lights—much less smart carts. And that’s fine with Schnucks. After all, this is only 10 carts, they’re only currently available during peak hours (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), and the vast majority of shoppers can keep queuing up to let someone else do the work of scanning their CheezIts and finding the item code for their lettuce.
“Some people will never do this,” MacMullan acknowledges. “They love talking to that real person that they’ve seen for 20 years, someone who has watched their kids grow up. But this satisfies the needs for a different kind of customer.”
