• Instacart, an online grocery delivery and pick-up platform, has partnered with Aramark Sports + Entertainment to deploy its automated checkout technology “Caper Counter” at refreshment stands in Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.

• The Caper Counter - which is equipped with computer vision - scans multiple items at once, adds them to an electronic cart, and charges shoppers in a few seconds. The automated checkout technology reportedly cuts transaction times by 65%, making it well-suited to settings with high crowd density.

• Initially, three contactless payment terminals will be placed in the baseball stadium, with additional units to be introduced over time. 

<ul><li>Instacart acquired automated checkout company Caper AI for USD 350 million in October 2021 and has since offered Caper’s checkout devices to retailers as part of the Instacart Platform , a selection of services announced last month, which include 15-minute delivery using nano-fulfillment centers, data insights, and advertising solutions.<ul>

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: For Instacart, this partnership is part of a broader strategy to expand beyond its ecommerce roots as a pure-play grocery delivery platform to a retail enablement platform that supports brick-and-mortar retailers in their drive for digital transformation. The move is also indicative of a growing trend among automated checkout solutions providers to deploy in sports facilities to stay competitive in the retail technology space. Just last week, Amazon launched its cashierless Just Walk Out tech at Houston Astros’ baseball stadium . Instacart is also not the only company in the space to partner with Aramark, which has been on a mission to modernize its concession stands across sports facilities. In 2019, Aramark deployed Mashgin’s AI-powered self-checkout kiosks across its ballpark portfolio . More recently, Aramark also partnered with Zippin to open checkout-free stores in Houston’s multi-purpose NRG Stadium .<ul>