Waitrose has become the first UK supermarket to trial ‘smart carts’ after confirming that it is testing next-gen shopping trolleys in its Bracknell store.
The ‘Shop-E’ device, developed by Israeli tech firm Shopic, clips onto a standard trolley and functions much like Waitrose’s existing ScanPayGo handsets.
The tech uses AI to automatically detect products added or removed from the trolley, with a screen that keeps track of the total cost of the items.
Additional features, such as navigation assistance around the store and checkout-free payment — similar to Amazon Fresh — are designed to streamline the shopping trip.
Beyond customer convenience, the technology also offers a new retail media opportunity for supermarkets. Each screen serves personalised ads and promotions based on the shopper’s basket, their loyalty card data and even their real-time location in the store.
Retailers can use this inventory for their own-brand promotions or sell it to third-party advertisers. The company claims that this approach can drive conversion rates up to ten times higher than standard online promotions.
‘The cart’s screen is a highly effective retail media channel — reaching shoppers with personalised offers, exactly where and when they select products’, the company states on its website.
The system also tracks behavioural data such as dwell time in aisles, routes taken through the store and shelf interactions, giving retailers a granular view of shopper behaviour for operational and marketing decisions.
Shopic previously trialled the smart carts for Israeli supermarket Shufersal, leading to it being rolled out in all its stores in 2023.
A Waitrose spokesperson told The Grocer that the Bracknell rollout is only a ‘very small-scale trial’ at this time. But given the retail media boom, don’t be surprised if you find yourself pushing an AI-powered trolley through your local supermarket in the not-so-distant future.
Main image by Eranjan on Unsplash
