Instacart to shut down AI-powered Caper Cart smart trolley business

Instacart has announced it will wind down its Caper Cart business, an AI-powered smart trolley division, by the second quarter of 2027. The company cited insufficient retailer adoption rates to justify continued investment. The closure is expected to result in pre-tax charges between $55 million and $80 million, covering contract terminations, asset impairments, and employee severance.

The decision impacts several international retail pilot programs. In the United Kingdom, Morrisons is halting its trial in Preston. In Belgium, Carrefour was set to launch a pilot in Waterloo, but that project will no longer proceed. While the technology saw use by approximately ten retailers across 100 cities in the United States, it failed to achieve a significant breakthrough in European markets.

Instacart plans to redirect savings from this closure toward other strategic growth areas, including software, inventory intelligence, and computer vision tools designed to improve stock visibility and store operations. The company aims to focus on technologies that can be more easily implemented across entire store networks.