Instacart (NASDAQ: CART) has taken its AI-powered Caper smart trolley technology into the United Kingdom for the first time, partnering with Morrisons to deploy the units at the chain's Preston supermarket. The launch positions Morrisons — which operates roughly 500 full-line stores and around 1,700 convenience locations across the UK — as the first British retailer to trial connected-cart technology at this scale.
How the Technology Works
Caper trolleys use computer vision and weight sensors to automatically identify items placed in the cart, including fresh produce weighed in-aisle. A touchscreen mounted on each unit displays a running basket total, surfaces personalised product recommendations, and allows shoppers to scan their Morrisons More Card loyalty card to unlock promotions in real time. At checkout, customers scan a barcode on the trolley's screen at a dedicated Caper lane — bypassing traditional conveyor-belt checkout entirely. The workflow mirrors the scan-and-go convenience that grocery operators have been chasing since Amazon Go demonstrated frictionless checkout at scale.
The Numbers Behind the Push
Instacart cited proprietary research from Researchscape International indicating that 54% of UK consumers enjoy in-store discovery but frequently shop on "autopilot," while 53% have passed on groceries due to affordability uncertainty. A further 46% identify loyalty programmes as their preferred budgeting tool — a data point that directly informs the More Card integration baked into the Preston rollout. On the operator side, Caper units are already live in more than 100 cities across the US and Australia, deployed with retail partners including Kroger, Wakefern Food Corp., Schnucks, and Coles. Instacart reports net promoter scores above 70 at fully rolled-out locations, a benchmark the company compares to globally recognised consumer brands.
David McIntosh, Chief Connected Stores Officer at Instacart, framed the UK debut as a convergence of physical and digital retail: "Customers want technology that helps them stay on budget and discover products they love, and Caper smart trolleys deliver both, directly in the aisle." Gordon Macpherson, Productivity Director at Morrisons, described the Preston deployment as a "trial" — language that suggests the chain will evaluate shopper uptake before committing to a broader rollout across its estate.
Grocery Tech Context
The Morrisons partnership extends Instacart's Connected Stores platform — which bundles smart carts, in-store mode, and storefront technology — beyond North America at a moment when European grocers are under pressure to reduce labour costs at checkout while lifting basket size and loyalty engagement. In the UK specifically, the major multiples have invested heavily in self-checkout infrastructure over the past decade, but consumer frustration with unexpected-item errors has created an opening for cart-level scanning that eliminates that pain point entirely. Competitors including Veeve and Shopic have pursued similar smart-cart plays with European grocery chains, making the Morrisons pilot a direct signal that Instacart intends to compete for that market.
For foodservice and grocery operators tracking in-store technology investment, the Preston deployment is worth watching as a proof-of-concept for how loyalty data, real-time personalisation, and frictionless checkout can converge in a single hardware touchpoint. Broader UK deployment timelines have not been disclosed.
For more on grocery technology and in-store innovation trends, see our coverage of connected store platforms and loyalty programme strategy in grocery.
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.
