Kroger is testing an AI-powered shopping cart at a Cincinnati store, enabling shoppers to scan items and pay directly on the cart itself for a more seamless in-store experience. The new “KroGO”-branded smart cart, which is powered by tech company Caper, uses deep learning and computer vision to quickly recognize items placed inside the cart, eliminating the need to wait in a checkout line.

The Caper cart includes a built-in scale to measure items sold by weight, and a built-in screen that can deliver shopping list recommendations, promotional offers and wayfinding capabilities. Shoppers can scan their loyalty card and check out directly from the cart. 

As demand for autonomous checkout increases, retailers can use the Caper Cart technology as a plug-and-play solution that doesn’t require a store retrofit or operational overhaul to deploy.

The Kroger pilot is Caper’s third deployment with a national retail chain in the past 12 months.

Jessie Dowd