The roster of grocery tech companies launching hybrid shopping experiences grows as Instacart throws its hat in the ring, launching Connected Stores, a suite of grocery technologies designed to sync and enhance online and in-store shopping experiences.
The goal of Instacart’s Connected Stores is to empower grocers to build a seamless online and in-store shopping experience, according to its specific needs and customer demographic — no small feat in today’s competitive marketplace.
What makes it so unique is that Connected Stores is a bundle of technologies designed to work together so that grocers wanting to adopt these brick-and-mortar innovations will be able to compete in the evolving grocery retail landscape. Instacart designed the technologies to be modular and support existing hardware, so retailers won’t have to install new hardware or retrofit their stores, according to a news release.
Instacart’s Connected Stores bundle includes the following new tech platforms:
- Caper Cart – Instacart’s artificial intelligence-powered smart cart, which allows customers to place items in the cart without scanning, weighing or interacting with a touchscreen;
- Scan & Pay – a platform that allows shoppers to scan items into the cart as they shop and check out using their mobile phone;
- Lists – a tool that syncs customer shopping lists directly to Caper Cart;
- Carrot tags – smart electronic shelf labels that deliver additional product information through mobile scanning;
- FoodStorm Department Order – A back-of-house communication tool that streamlines in-store ordering across departments; and
- Out of Stock Insights – A dashboard that shares real-time updates on item stock counts and availability.
Increasingly, customers shopping in-person are looking for the ease and technology of online shopping and are more receptive to embedded digital content. Instacart’s new technologies are designed so that grocers and their customers can use one or more platforms to personalize the shopping experience, tailored to their interest and desired experience.
What’s more, Instacart has partnered with Good Food Holdings, to embed the Connect Store platforms at its Bristol Farms store in Irvine, Calif. Customers will be able to see the technologies in action in the coming months, according to the release.
Learn more about Connected Stores in this blog post by David McIntosh, Instacart’s vice president of Connected Stores, and learn more about how demand for contactless shopping is driving creative tech on PMG.
