Top-selling grocery platform in North America, Instacart, has most recently announced its acquisition of Caper AI, a software technology company that utilizes cashier-less checkout and computing devices for retailers and grocers.
Instacart is essentially a business that enables customers to purchase items online as opposed to in stores, and to have the items sent successfully to their homes. This particular method of delivery has been especially useful throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instacart reported that it would procure the company of Caper AI for around $350 million.
The acquisition is ultimately part of Instacart's "B2B2C" retail technology methodology. "B2B2C" retail technology can be described as "Business to Business to Consumer," which is a company that employs the usage of other companies within their own.
The CEO of Instacart, Fidji Simo, stated in an interview with TechCrunch this past week that there is much importance and significance in the acquisition, in terms of what retailers would prefer and are required to do. In comparison to other companies such as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), which is becoming increasingly savvy in terms of digital services, there is a large amount of competition.
"We are... unlocking for retail partners [what] we think is what's next. We are meeting the evolving needs of customers online or offline. Retailers want to develop unified offerings that break down silos," Somo said in the interview. "We see ourselves as a retail enablement company... We already have a vast platform to power commerce services [covering] both delivery and pick up that already blends the lines."
Instacart ultimately views Caper AI as a way of bringing about a stronger sense of global commerce. With Caper, for instance, Instacart consumers will be able to create shopping lists that show up on their online accounts and on their 'smart carts.'
With the newfound acquisition of Caper AI, the grocery platform of Instacart hopes to implement new technologies that will appeal to its sense of commerce and the way that its business is run. Caper AI and Instacart will likely have a partnership that runs both smoothly and efficiently, and stands as strong competition against that of others that are seeking for further technological advancement.