Morrisons is the latest UK supermarket to confirm plans to trial AI-powered shopping trollies.
The retailer will launch a new trial with US company Instacart in a single, as-yet-unconfirmed store in 2026, ahead of a potential further rollout.
The fully integrated smart trolley solution – called Caper Carts – uses a combination of four edge AI cameras and scales to instantly identify when items are placed in the trolley. Shoppers can track their purchases via an inbuilt digital screen. When it comes to checking out, the screen will display a barcode, which the shopper can scan at the self-checkout bank.
Caper Carts are already used in more than one hundred cities across the US by the likes of Kroger, Aldi, Coles and Sprouts, but this is the first time the solution will come to the UK.
“We’re constantly looking for ways to bring innovation to the weekly shop to enhance the experience for our customers, and the cutting-edge technology of Caper Carts brings the best of digital and physical retail together in-store,” said Morrisons productivity director Gordon Macpherson.
“We’re excited about bringing the first fully-integrated AI-powered trolleys in the UK to a first store soon, and look forward to testing customer response and building understanding of how the technology works within the Morrisons store estate.”
The aim of the Caper Cart is to make “grocery shopping feel like an adventure”, David McIntosh, Instacart chief connected stores officer told The Grocer, by enabling new levels of personalisation and product discovery in store.
The supermarket said it would integrate the smart trollies with its Morrisons More Card loyalty programme, and the digital screen would flag offers and promotions to shoppers as they pass through the store.
While it’s not yet planned as part of the Morrisons trial, the carts also had the capability to recommend products to customers based on the items already in the basket, McIntosh said.
Instacart had designed the installation to be modular and as seamless as possible, meaning supermarkets could instal the system without needing to rip out large parts of their store.
The “weather-proof” trollies would be stored in “stacks” like regular carts at the front of store. While they require charging overnight, they have been designed to charge automatically throughout the day when pushed together with other Caper Carts.
“That means the carts can be integrated seamlessly into store operations, you don’t have to do anything differently to your traditional carts,” McIntosh said.
Staff would be able to monitor and locate all Caper Carts in store through handheld devices. If a customer attempts to remove the trollies from store without paying, they will flash red, alerting store staff to intervene.
The trial would look to measure “basket lift” as well as how regular customers are using the carts before rolling out further, McIntosh said.
Morrisons is the second major supermarket chain to confirm it’s testing smart carts, after it was revealed Waitrose had begun trialling a smart trolley system at its Bracknell store. Different to Instacart’s fully integrated system, Waitrose’s trial uses a handle-bar like device which shoppers connect to a regular trolley.
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