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Wegmans testing smart shopping cart technology at three NY stores

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Wegmans testing smart shopping cart technology at three NY stores

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

Wegmans locations in Perinton and Pittsford, as well as a third location on Alberta Drive in Buffalo, are a 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-state technology that we believe could be offered to our customers as an alternative way to shop in our stores in the future,” Puleo said in a written statement Tuesday. “Our goal is to determine if Smart Cart Technology is a fit for the unique shopping assortment offered in our stores and if it meets the shopping needs of our customers.”

The company was unable to comment further on any next step specifics but said they’re limiting the pilot program to three stores as they gather customer feedback to drive improvements.

Wegmans’ previous smart shopping cart trials

Wegmans pulled the plug on its popular SCAN app back in 2022, which enabled customers to scan groceries using their smartphones, bag them as they shopped and pay for them using a single code at self-checkouts, because too many people were walking off with unscanned items, resulting in unacceptable losses.

Privacy concerns: Wegmans’ facial recognition pilot program raises eyebrows

The grocery store chain also tried out an artificial intelligence-powered device created by Israel-based company Shopic in two of its New York stores, including the Pittsford Wegmans, back in January 2023.

This gadget resembling a tablet with handles, clipped to the top of a shopping cart and, through a system of cameras and sensors, identified items placed in bags in a cart, even if multiple items were added simultaneously, as well as detected when an item was removed.

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 scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@gannett.com.

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