ST. LOUIS — New smart shopping carts that allow customers to avoid the checkout lines have rolled out at one St. Louis-area Schnucks store.
In July, the St. Louis Business Journal reported that Schnuck Markets was working with Instacart, Inc. to roll out the AI-powered shopping carts at a few St. Louis-area stores.
The pilot program finally launched last week at the Twin Oaks location, located at 1393 Big Bend Road, a spokesperson with Schnuck Markets said.
In the upcoming weeks, the Lindenwood (1900 1st Capitol Drive in St. Charles) and Cottleville (6083 Mid Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peters) locations will join in on the pilot, which is still in its early stages, the spokesperson said.
According to Business Journal reporting, the new carts use AI to automatically identify items as they're put in the basket, allowing customers to bag their groceries as they shop, bypass the checkout line and pay through the cart from anywhere in the store.
The shopping carts will connect to the Schnucks Rewards App, according to the Business Journal, allowing customers to access clipped promotions and to "light up" electronic shelf labels from their phones to easily find items.
It's not the only way that Schnucks is utilizing artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, the chain brought in new high-tech, anti-theft liquor cabinets to several locations that allow customers to unlock it by entering their phone number on a keypad to receive a code via text message.
The liquor cases also monitor customers' behaviors when accessing the case, including the number of products removed, how frequently a customer accesses it and how long the door is left open, to identify suspicious activity in real-time.
To watch 5 On Your Side broadcasts or reports 24/7, 5 On Your Side is always streaming on 5+. Download for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV or the Apple TV App Store.