• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, November 11, 2019

Retailers have been looking to connected technology to enhance the customer shopping experience for some time.

Now one of the largest grocery chains in North America is introducing smart shopping carts powered by artificial intelligence.

The smart carts, being deployed by grocery chain Sobeys in its Oakville, Ontario, location, tailor shopping recommendations by using deep learning and computer vision that identifies items as they’re added to the baskets.

“The best Canadian brands strive to be world-class by thinking ahead and placing their bets on unique innovations," states Mathieu Lacoursiere, vice president, retail support, at Sobeys.

The Caper Smart Cart, from New York-based Caper, includes an interactive screen and autonomous checkout technology.

The carts launched earlier in the year with the New York supermarket Foodcellar & Co.

The shopping cart screens show nearby deals as shoppers roam the store.

Previous self-scanning technology deployed at Stop & Shop stores tended to increase basket size, a key retailer metric.

The average basket size increased at the New York deployment of smart carts, according to Caper.

If that does happen, grocery shoppers can expect to see more smart carts popping up at their local stores.

If not, they can expect to continue pushing along normal shopping carts that just hold the groceries.