Instacart has taken its Caper smart trolley platform across the Atlantic, launching the AI-powered carts at Morrisons' Preston supermarket in a live in-store trial — making Morrisons the first UK retailer to deploy the technology. The rollout extends Instacart's Connected Stores suite into the European grocery market for the first time and signals a broadening commercial footprint for the NASDAQ-listed grocery technology company beyond its North American base.
The Caper trolley functions as a mobile point-of-sale and personalisation engine. Its onboard camera system automatically identifies items as they are placed in the cart, including weighing loose fresh produce, eliminating a traditional friction point at the checkout lane. A touchscreen displays a live running basket total — addressing a notable consumer pain point: Instacart-commissioned research from Researchscape International found 53% of UK shoppers have passed on purchasing groceries because they were uncertain they could afford them. The screen also surfaces relevant product recommendations as shoppers navigate the floor, capitalising on the 54% of UK consumers who say they enjoy serendipitous in-aisle discovery but typically shop on "autopilot."
Loyalty Integration at Shelf
The Morrisons deployment integrates directly with the retailer's More Card loyalty programme. Shoppers can scan their More Card on the trolley's touchscreen to unlock personalised promotions and loyalty savings in real time throughout the trip — a capability that effectively moves the loyalty redemption moment from the register to the planogram. The checkout experience is streamlined via a barcode displayed on the trolley's screen, scanned at a dedicated Caper lane, removing the need for traditional belt-and-scanner checkout altogether. This end-to-end flow is designed to improve throughput and reduce shrink versus unattended self-checkout formats.
Retail Footprint and NPS Signal
Caper carts are already deployed across more than 100 cities in the US and Australia, with retail partners including Kroger, Wakefern Food Corp., Schnucks, and Coles. Instacart reports net promoter scores above 70 at fully rolled-out locations — a threshold associated with category-leading consumer brands and well above typical grocery retail benchmarks. That velocity data and NPS profile will likely underpin Morrisons' evaluation criteria for any broader chainwide rollout across the retailer's approximately 500 supermarkets.
"Caper smart trolleys represent a new era for in-store grocery shopping — one where the physical store is as intelligent and personalised as the best online experience," said David McIntosh, Chief Connected Stores Officer at Instacart. Gordon Macpherson, Productivity Director at Morrisons, framed the Preston trial as a direct extension of the retailer's customer-centricity strategy, noting the technology gives shoppers "real-time visibility of their spending, instant access to their More Card savings, and a more seamless experience in the aisle."
For UK grocery operators watching the Preston trial, the Caper deployment sits at the intersection of two persistent category-management pressures: basket-size optimisation and loyalty programme engagement. As shrinkflation fatigue keeps shoppers price-sensitive, tools that surface deal relevance at the moment of selection — rather than post-trip via app notifications — could meaningfully shift both units per transaction and scan-based redemption rates. The grocery technology and in-store merchandising implications of a successful UK rollout extend well beyond a single store in Lancashire.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
