Instacart and AWG Partner to Ease Access to Grocery Technology

Instacart and Associated Wholesale Growers (AWG) have expanded their partnership to offer eCommerce and same-day delivery solutions to AWG’s member retailers. 

This extended collaboration will simplify members’ access to Instacart’s grocery technology suite, including its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart carts called Caper Carts, the companies said in a Monday (March 25) press release. 

More than 800 AWG members already use Instacart; the newly expanded partnership will simplify access for another 2,300 member locations, according to the release. 

“We’ve witnessed the tremendous value Instacart brings to many of our local independent grocers, making innovation, growth and deeper customer engagement possible,” Shelly Moore, chief information officer at AWG, said in the release. “That’s why we’re partnering to streamline access to the technology and service our retail partners’ need to grow via a proven eCommerce offering.”

With the Instacart’s online shopping and delivery service, grocers’ customers can visit the Instacart website or download a mobile app, select a city and a store, add items to an online grocery cart and have those items picked and delivered by an Instacart shopper, according to the release.

Other Instacart offerings available to grocers include in-store technology solutions like Caper Carts, the release said. These smart carts use computer vision and AI to identify items as they are placed in the cart, allowing customers to bag items as they shop, make payments from anywhere in the store, and access personalized promotions and savings.

“Our joint effort with AWG is more than a partnership; it’s a dedicated effort to empower independently owned grocers to navigate the digital landscape,” Nick Nickitas, general manager, local independent grocery at Instacart and founder of Rosie, said in the release.

Instacart is pushing ahead with its efforts to create connected stores, unifying retailers’ physical presences with their digital channels to provide smarter data insights and more efficient services, Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart, said in a February letter to shareholders. 

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that many grocers are implementing new digital technologies into the in-store experience in an effort to gain data on shoppers’ brick-and-mortar behaviors. 

For example, 50% of grocers are innovating on the ability to track customer purchase history across all channels, according to “Big Retail’s Innovation Mandate: Convenience and Personalization,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and ACI Worldwide Collaboration.