Smart shopping carts could be becoming more than a convenience tool. New research from Bayes Business School, based on 12,418 shopping trips at a major German supermarket chain, found that customers actively using smart-cart features spent an average of €30.18 per visit, versus €22.89 for non-users, a difference of 32%. They also bought 25% more items and spent 23% longer in store.
The numbers are striking, but they do not prove that smart carts cause higher spending. Users may already differ from other shoppers. The study also found that more digital interaction is not necessarily better: among “superusers”, basket value and promotion conversion eventually declined.
One finding may be particularly relevant for grocery strategy. Shoppers who uploaded a shopping list bought fewer items, but those items were of higher value, and they completed their trips faster, while remaining receptive to relevant promotions. The opportunity, therefore, may lie less in maximising screen interactions than in making them useful.
Across Europe, smart carts are moving from isolated experiments towards a broader retail test. Carrefour has piloted connected carts in France, while Monoprix and Franprix have also trialled intelligent trolleys in Paris. In Germany, Kaufland is currently testing smart-cart technology alongside its K-Scan self-scanning system, while Morrisons has become the first UK retailer to trial Instacart’s AI-powered Caper carts. Colruyt, meanwhile, is expanding its proprietary Smart Cart trial across Belgium.
The real opportunity seems not simply to be about putting more technology into the shopping journey, but about making that journey feel more intuitive, useful and personal. If smart-carts can genuinely help shoppers discover, decide and buy with less friction, they could become a powerful new interface between the physical store and the digital experience.