Supermarket shoppers who use trolleys embedded with digital screens spend up to a third more than those who do not, according to researchers at Bayes Business School in London.

AI-powered smart trolleys fitted with tablets on their handlebars are being used or trialled in major supermarket chains. The devices allow shoppers to digitalise their shopping lists, receive personalised recommendations and in-store navigation, and make checkout-free payments.

The research captured 12,418 shopping sessions across a month in a German supermarket chain, including 9422 using the technology available to them. Findings show:

• Shoppers engaging with smart shopping carts spent 32% more on average than those that didn’t, with particularly large differences on afternoons and at weekends.
• Smart shoppers also bought 25% more items than non-users, with more purchased in afternoons and evenings.
• Smart shoppers spent 23% more time on their shopping experiences, with longest durations spent in the evening.
• Across all customers, high temperatures shorten average shopping trip duration.

For all sessions, researchers collected information on basket value, basket size and time spent in-store. Each shopping session was also timestamped and linked to time of day and day of the week when a cart was first activated. Days were divided into three sections (morning, afternoon and evening) as well as weekday and weekend shopping. Types of engagement were also recorded to differentiate between use of carts for shopping lists, recommendations and store navigation.

Alongside general findings, shoppers who recorded more than 20 screen interactions during a shopping session, identified by the researchers as superusers, bought significantly more items and stayed in store for longer, but did not spend more money overall. This indicates those who use technology the most may be hedonic shoppers, doing so for the experience rather than out of necessity.

In addition, when interaction with trolleys reached a certain level, spending and basket sizes begin to decrease. This suggests using technology for entertainment or general screen engagement, rather than a genuine interest in the content being displayed, can produce unwanted consequences for retailers.

“Retailers are increasingly using technology to enhance the shopping experience for consumers, and our findings suggest there may be significant revenue gains from doing so effectively,” said lead author Sabrina Gottschalk, lecturer at Bayes Business School. “As well as guiding customers towards special offers and new products, digitalisation induces increased engagement and additional advertising platforms. Although technology should in theory improve shopping experiences, consumers should be wary of relying solely on devices and remain conscious of how digital prompts and recommendations shape their purchase decisions.”

Co-author Yusuf Oc, senior lecturer at Bayes Business School (www.bayes.citystgeorges.ac.uk), added: “Our research shows clear spikes in spending and consumption for those deciding to use in-store digital assistance, suggesting that retailers should offer this technology and entice customers to use it, perhaps with a promise of loyalty points or prizes. The increase in afternoon and weekend activity from our findings should prompt supermarkets to promote higher-end items at these times to cash in on profligate customers, with offers on new items reserved for evening shoppers. However, figures also suggest that over-reliance on smart trolleys in a single session can actually distract customers and diminish returns, leading to lower spending and basket sizes. One way that supermarkets might tackle this issue is to offer more experiential or limited-time deals to keep customers interested in purchasing as well as trying out new technology.”

For more details on the report, go to www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296326003723.