Halifax Sobeys gets high-tech carts

Clayton Park store delivers option to cut checkout line

Exactly two years ago, Sobeys Inc. set up a groundbreaking pilot program at its Glen Abbey store in Oakville, Ont.

It was to test the Smart Cart “intelligent grocery shopping cart,” and now it is slowly being introduced to Atlantic Canada. The first location is the Sobeys in Clayton Park.

It is public knowledge the carts are being offered at that single store in Halifax, but the Stellarton-based grocery chain wasn't returning calls to provide details so it is unclear whether this is a pilot program for the region or if the company plans to expand the technology.

Halifax resident Tracey Lynn Bussard told me in a recent text she tried the cart because she has anxiety issues, which are compounded when she's in places she doesn't frequent regularly and when standing in lineups.

"The ability to shop, scan, bag items, and pay all from the cart seemed like a solid option,” she said.

“Shopping was slower because of scanning individual items along the way, as well as learning the sweet spot on the scanner. It caught that I missed a multi-item scan and had me remove it from the cart and scan it. It was incredibly easy to use,” Bussard added.

“Being slower shopping was a better experience than using self-checkout with others waiting behind me, or standing at a checkout. I will use them again, without question. No anxiety spikes in the store or as I was leaving was a complete selling feature for me.”

In 2019, when it was introduced by the grocery chain, Sobeys Smart Cart was promoted as a technologyenhanced shopping cart that provided customers an engaging way to shop, focused on improving one of the greatest points of customer friction: the checkout lineup.

According to a company news release at the time, the technology scans and weighs products as customers place them in the cart, displays a running tally of purchases and allows customers to pay on the spot.

Equipped with artificial-intelligence and machine-learning technology, the cart is expected to evolve to improve the shopping experience. For example, the cart's screen will eventually help customers navigate the store to complete a shopping list, highlight sale promotions and make product suggestions.

The Sobeys buggy includes multiple high-resolution cameras that capture 120 images per second as a product is placed in the cart, which allows it to learn how to identify each item. The cart is supposed to evolve from “scanning” product to “identifying” product.

Supported by sensitive weight measures, customers will eventually be able to toss items into the cart without having to enter any information or scan barcodes.

Shoppers are directed to place their personal belongings in the small basket at the front of the cart and their shopping bags in the cart before they begin. A customer presses the “Start Shopping” button on a tablet and may scan or enter an Air Miles number.

On its website, Sobeys recommends customers bag items in the cart as they shop, for efficiency, placing products that were difficult to scan or items with a discount sticker in the small basket at the front before seeing an employee for assistance.

Although there has been some criticism on social media that perhaps the cart was doing away with jobs at the checkout, a Sobeys employee who did not want to be identified told me that is not the case. There are no job cuts at Clayton Park, and there are two Smart

Cart ambassadors who move throughout the store who are available to assist; the customer presses a help button on the screen for their attention.

LEDs in the carts identify what stage in the shopping journey a customer may be on. One colour means you've just gotten started, and another means you've requested help.