Instacart partners with Aramark to provide contact-free food and beverage checkout at Boston’s baseball stadium

Instacart, a retail enablement company in North America, announced its Caper Counter, an artificial intelligence-powered (AI) point-of-sale (POS) system, at Boston's ballpark in partnership with Aramark Sports + Entertainment. The new Caper Counter checkout systems will provide fast, contact-free transactions of food and beverage selection for fans through visual recognition and AI technology, helping to reduce transaction times.

Customers will be able to use three Caper Counters for contact-free checkout experiences at select areas around the Boston stadium, located at the Truly Terrace and Walk Thru Bru. Caper Counter's technology allows for packaged food and beverage items – such as peanuts, soda, beer and candy – to be scanned and purchased in seconds while also increasing health and safety throughout the ballpark.

Caper Counter is powered by AI, including computer vision and Sensor Fusion technology, to visually detect and identify items based on their shape, color, key features and sizes. Customers place items for purchase on Caper Counter, where they will be automatically detected and added to the cart for checkout. Customers then select “pay” and choose from either a credit card, loaded ticket or team rewards as their method of payment, and can then gather their food and beverages, completing a seamless, autonomous transaction.

Caper Counters are one example of the in-store technologies offered as a part of Instacart Platform, a suite of enterprise-grade technologies to enhance and digitize retail experiences. Caper Counter is designed for retailers that have a smaller physical footprint and stock-keeping unit (SKU) count, allowing customers to seamlessly purchase a handful of items at a time – ranging from stadiums to convenience stores.

To power in-store technologies for larger retailers, Instacart also offers Caper Carts, smart carts that auto-detect items instantly with AI-powered cameras. Instacart Platform provides retailers access to the technologies behind Instacart's consumer marketplace to power their own digital properties and retail operations.