Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Smart Cart Adventure

Today was my yearly eye exam at an optometrist's office close to where we used to live. It was also grocery shopping day. Hubby Tony and I divided up the list. He went to Aldi, which had the largest list, and I hit the stores where we only needed one of two things.

After my exam was finished I headed to the strip mall across the street that has a branch of a Schnucks, a local, family run grocery store. As I walked across the parking lot I remembered that about a year ago the store announced they were offering 'smart' shopping carts in select stores, and this branch was one of them. In the lobby I saw rows of conventional carts on one side and a small selection of "Caper Carts" on the other. I decided to try one out.

The cart looked like a regular cart with a touchscreen and pay station attached to the handle. The screen offered a tutorial, where I learned the important points of using it. As I put an item into the cart I had make sure of the sensors in the corners of the basket scanned the barcode. For things without a barcode, like produce, there was an option to type the PLU code into the touchscreen. The scale in the basket automatically calculated the weight of the produce.

The screen showed me the available sales and coupons, what I had put into the cart, and a running total of the cost. When I had all of my items I checked out using the attached pay terminal, and had the option of having a receipt emailed of texted to me.

I enjoyed the novelty of trying something new, but not everything on the cart worked well. Putting in a produce PLU was a clunky process, because it took several seconds for each numeral to be recognized by the cart. When I tried to add a loaf of bread from the clearance rack (where the store had attached an additional bar code over the original one) the cart never picked up the new information. It kept asking me if I had added something to my cart, and if so I should make sure to scan it first. I ultimately put the loaf of bread back on the shelf. 

Five years ago today: Author Unkown

31 comments:

  1. Good for you trying this, I do prefer cashiers though. -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com

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    1. For the most part I usually only get a few items each time I go to the store. The full service lines are always long, and I can get out quicker if I use a self-serve terminal.

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  2. I don't think they're ready for prime time yet. Very enjoyable hanging out with you for a while today. Thank you aloha

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  3. So the cart wasn't so smart after all.

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  4. The Aldi around here does not yet have the Smart Cart. What they have are regular carts, which they lock up. It takes 25 cents to unlock the cart to do your shopping and when you return the cart, your 25 cents is refunded. They justify this madness by saying it saves having to send people out to gather carts. Needless to say, I don't shop Aldi AND if I did, I'd forgo the refund, leave the cart outside on principle.

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    1. When I had three teenage boys shopping at Aldi was the only way I could afford to feed them. Now there's only two of us, but the habit is ingrained. I always have "Aldi quarters" in the car.

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  5. Wow I have never heard of carts like these. wal mart does have aisles where you scan your own items-but I refuse to use them as it will eliminate jobs. I do miss not having an Aldi store near us since we moved to the lake-I always loved that store

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    1. I was never a fan of Wal-Mart, and shop at Sam's Club only when I can't find an item somewhere else.

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  6. That sounds quite fancy. If you scan the same item twice, by mistake, for example, or because you didn't hear the beep, does the basket realise or could you end up paying multiple times for the same item? I worry about these things ;-)

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    1. That's a great question. If that had happened to me I would have searched out an associate and asked about the issue.

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  7. I have yet to see one of those carts in my area. It is a shame it didn't read the discount item. I buy several of those items when I grocery shop.

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    1. We always stop by the clearance section to see what they have.

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    2. Sounds like the smart cart needs more schooling!

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  8. Mobile self check out. What will they think of next to make things screwier.

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  9. That sounds like an interesting experience with the smart shopping cart! It’s great to see technology making shopping a bit more streamlined, even if it comes with some hiccups. It seems like there are still some kinks to work out, especially with produce and items with multiple barcodes. Hopefully, these issues will be ironed out as the technology evolves.

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    1. It wouldn't surprise me if smart cart technology evolves.

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  10. Saw some similar carts in our supermarkets a while ago...people tried it, then gave up. Now I don't see them.

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    1. It's been a year since they rolled them out; I would have thought if they were a hit they would have shown up in more branches.

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  11. Those carts look interesting but I haven't seen any thing out our way yet.

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  12. Of course, I am familiar with the self scan checkouts at the local grocery stores, but this self scan cart was new to me as well. I only use the self scan if I have a few items. For larger orders, I always use the cashier registers. And, it appears from reading previous comments that I am not alone in this process.

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    1. I've seen a couple of stores put a policy in place which limits the number of items you can do in a self-serve checkout.

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  13. I would rather use a professional!

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    1. For me, it depends on how many items I have and how long the line to use an actual cashier is. If I have two things and have to stand in line behind multiple people with overloaded baskets self-serve is a no brainer.

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  14. Wow that would not suit me, we never use self service tills, that trolley would be a nightmare!

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    1. My exact thoughts. If I had to use it, I would turn around and leave the store.

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    2. I don't know that I would use one of these baskets again, but I like to try new things and it was interesting.

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