Wegmans is testing smart shopping cart technology in three New York stores

Two Rochester area Wegmans stores are home to another smart shopping cart pilot program.

Wegmans locations in Perinton and Pittsford, as well as a third location on Alberta Drive in Buffalo, are part of the company’s Smart Cart Test & Learn pilot, according to Wegmans Senior Public Relations Coordinator Mandee Puleo.

“Smart Shopping Carts is an early-stage technology that we believe can be offered to our customers in the future as an alternative way to shop in our stores,” Puleo said in a written statement on Tuesday. “Our goal is to determine if Smart Cart Technology fits the unique retail assortment offered in our stores and meets the shopping needs of our customers.”

The company could not comment further on the details of the next step, but said they are limiting the pilot program to three stores as they gather customer feedback to drive improvements.

Wegmans’ previous tests with smart shopping carts

Wegmans pulled the plug on the popular SCAN app in 2022, allowing customers to scan groceries with their smartphones, bag them while shopping and pay with a single code at self-checkouts, as too many people walked away with unscanned items, leading to unacceptable losses.

Privacy concerns: Wegmans’ facial recognition pilot program is raising eyebrows

The supermarket chain too tried out an artificial intelligence device created by Israel-based company Shopic in two of its New York stores, including Pittsford Wegmans, in January 2023.

This gadget, which resembles a tablet with handles, clips to the top of a shopping cart and, through a system of cameras and sensors, identifies items placed in bags in a shopping cart even when multiple items are added at the same time. and was detected when an item was deleted.

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reporter Marcia Greenwood contributed to this report.

Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network’s New York Connect team, focusing on scams and recall-related topics. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Contact [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Wegmans is testing smart shopping cart technology in three New York stores