--- title: 'AI-Powered Smart Carts: A Secret Weapon for Grocery Savings?' description: AI-powered smart carts like Caper Carts can help you save money on groceries with smarter, more efficient shopping. authors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Shopping - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Shopping - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Taxes published: '2025-02-03T18:25:19.000Z' modified: '2025-02-03T19:13:53.000Z' section: Shopping tags: - News word_count: 779 canonical: https://money.com/ai-smart-carts-save-money/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Close-up of a man using a smart Caper Cart while shopping for groceries](https://img.money.com/2025/01/News-AI-Powered-Grocery-Carts1.jpg) The next time you go grocery shopping, bring along AI. If used carefully, it could help you save money. In recent months, retailers like Wegmans, Schnucks, ShopRite and Kroger have begun testing out "smart" carts in stores alongside traditional analog ones. There are several different brands, including Shopic and Amazon's Dash Cart, but perhaps the most popular is the Instacart-owned Caper Cart, which is available in more than 60 U.S. cities, per a spokesperson. Regardless of manufacturer, these smart grocery carts have the potential to totally change the way you shop. Smart carts are able to sense, scan and weigh items as you put them in the cart, displaying a running total on a small screen. Some also provide maps of the store, digital coupons and the ability to pay using the cart itself as a point of service terminal. ## Big plans or big bills? Find the financial solution you need ### Are you in debt? Do you own or are you looking to start a small business? Are you seeking to modernize your home? If you need funds, there are options available. Just click below, answer a few questions and find the best financial product for your needs. [Explore solutions](https://money.com/pr/sbb5674925b3?ap_referrer=%2Fai-smart-carts-save-money%2F&url=%2Fget-money%2Flp%2Fget-money-funnel) "I think \[smart carts\] are going to have a really positive impact on shopper experience," says Jie Zhang, dean's professor of marketing at the University of Maryland. The biggest perk here is the ability to make more informed [purchase decisions](https://money.com/dollar-scholar-save-money-groceries/?encoded_id=bNejY&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Dollar%20Scholar%20269%20-%2001/22/25%20\(Life%20Insurance\)&utm_campaign=dollar-scholar). For example, if you've set aside $100 for a specific shopping trip and you can see you've reached $80 halfway through, you can remove nonessential items and/or substitute them with cheaper options right then and there. Without a smart cart, you would have an awkward moment at the checkout counter. Zhang anticipates this shift in consumer behavior because it occurs in related scenarios. Her research has shown that when shopping online, shoppers commonly make substitutions, modifications or eliminations when they see their virtual cart's total. So it's reasonable to expect a similar phenomenon with the smart carts. "Our data shows 83% of customers are eager to use smart carts specifically for savings and budgeting," David McIntosh, chief connected stores officer at Instacart, tells Money. "When customers can track their spending and watch their running total in real time, they're not only able to stick to their budgets more effectively but also maximize their dollars." Geoff Tomaino, an assistant professor at the University of Florida who studies consumer judgment and decision-making, says smart carts greatly reduce friction, or tiny barriers that make doing something difficult. For example, with an old-school shopping cart, if you want to buy a pound of, say, potatoes, you have to hunt down the scale, weigh the potatoes, bag them and put them in your cart. That's all friction. But with a smart cart, you can just toss the potatoes in. That friction is reduced — and the entire shopping experience is easier. That ease may make the difference between you purchasing potatoes and you deciding the hassle is not worth it. (It also means smart carts may actually encourage people to eat more produce, Tomaino says.) At the same time, smart carts may impact the [pain of paying](https://money.com/dollar-scholar-cash-only/), which refers to the negative emotions that arise when paying for a good or service, and salience, which is the quality of something being particularly noticeable. When using a smart cart, you're seeing your total go up bit by bit and being constantly shown how much money you're paying versus only thinking about it once, Tomaino says. As a result, you might spend less. ## The downsides of smart shopping carts That's not to suggest smart carts don't have downsides. They do — and a major one is that they could sneakily lead you to spend *more.* Imagine that you've decided to spend $100 on a shopping trip. Normally, if you go through checkout and discover you only spent $80, you would probably just fist-bump the cashier and go on your way. But if your smart cart is telling you you're at $80 and you're still standing in the aisles, you're likely to fill that gap with frivolous items like candy or wine, Tomaino says. That's not ideal for your budget. Speaking generally, a lot of these pros and cons depend on how, exactly, the smart carts are implemented. "On one hand, smart shopping carts \[can\] help consumers be more disciplined within their budget. On the other hand, technology could actually increase sales through making personalized product recommendations in real time," Zhang says. Put bluntly, if retailers use the smart carts to suggest useful coupons, that's great. But if retailers abuse this tool and become too pushy, it could seriously backfire. "If consumers are inundated with product pitches they don't care about or don't want, that could be a real annoyance that could really ruin the potential of this technology," she adds. ## Take control of your financial future by investing in Gold ### Achieve greater financial security by providing effective solutions that can help protect your wealth. Click below to start investing today! [Invest in Gold](https://money.com/pr/ob5a017f5a3d?ap_referrer=%2Fai-smart-carts-save-money%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/19305/medium_414558a1-29d4-465e-b5d1-921febc39ed2.png) American Hartford Gold can help you take control of your financial future [Invest in Gold](https://money.com/pr/cdf8db27d320?ap_referrer=%2Fai-smart-carts-save-money%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/ai-smart-carts-save-money/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Shopping", "item": "https://money.com/shopping/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "AI-Powered Smart Carts: A Secret Weapon for Grocery Savings?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/ai-smart-carts-save-money/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/ai-smart-carts-save-money/", "name": "AI-Powered Smart Carts: A Secret Weapon for Grocery Savings?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-02-03T18:25:19.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/ai-smart-carts-save-money/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/ai-smart-carts-save-money/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-02-03T19:13:53.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "AI-Powered Smart Carts: A Secret Weapon for Grocery Savings?", "articleSection": "Shopping", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/01/News-AI-Powered-Grocery-Carts1.jpg", "width": 1000, "height": 668, "caption": "News-AI-Powered-Grocery-Carts" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julia Glum", "url": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/#author", "description": "Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. ", "image": "https://img.money.com/2021/10/a_julia-glum.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "julia.glum@money.com", "jobTitle": "Managing Editor", "alumniOf": "University of Florida", "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com", "name": "Newsweek" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.ibtimes.com/", "name": "International Business Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-office-tax-deduction-who-qualifies/", "name": "CBS News" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/coupon-queen-woman-tik-tok-share-tips-couponing-66302189", "name": "Good Morning America" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.wusa9.com/video/entertainment/television/programs/great-day-washington/tips-to-being-better-with-money-in-2021/65-a5b83e05-73ba-4d60-b9a8-1d47f9ac6018", "name": "WUSA9" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://pix11.com/news/coronavirus/rebound/making-ends-meet/millenials-taking-biggest-financial-hit-from-pandemic/", "name": "Pix 11" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/opinion/active-shooter-drill-schools.html", "name": "The New York Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://mashable.com/article/forrest-fenn-treasure-found", "name": "Mashable" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/13/theres-an-app-for-that-authorities-say-man-asked-siri-for-help-dumping-body/", "name": "The Washington Post" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/08/treasure-buried-by-forrest-fenn-finally-found-after-10-years.html", "name": "CNBC" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/florida-playbook/2017/03/gillum-for-governors-rollout-stumble-florida-woman-gets-trump-shout-out-rubios-tampa-office-problems-218973", "name": "Politico" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/superjulia", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2025-02-03T18:25:19.000Z", "description": "AI-powered smart carts like Caper Carts can help you save money on groceries with smarter, more efficient shopping.", "abstract": "AI-powered smart carts like Caper Carts can help you save money on groceries with smarter, more efficient shopping.", "@id": "https://money.com/ai-smart-carts-save-money/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2025-02-03T19:13:53.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Katherine Peach", "url": "https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/#author", "description": "Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!)\r\n\r\nKatherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others.\r\n\r\nKatherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.", "jobTitle": "Associate Editor", "alumniOf": "University of Maryland, Baltimore County", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "wordCount": 779, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Shopping", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping" ] } ] } ] } ```