Instacart Advancing Real-Time Shelf Intelligence Through Acquisition
Grocery technology company Instacart has acquired Arpalus, a computer vision company that has developed shelf intelligence technology especially for grocery retail. The accuracy of online orders is dependent on the underlying inventory data, with undetected out-of-stocks and catalog gaps among the most persistent sources of customer dissatisfaction in online grocery. The acquisition aims to improve Instacart’s ability to provide a more complete picture of on-shelf inventory and product availability, thereby enhancing fulfillment accuracy, creating more relevant AI-powered consumer shopping experiences and offering additional in-store capabilities.
Using computer vision models built for real grocery store environments, Arpalus can identify individual items on shelves with more than 95% accuracy, on average. The technology operates on any smartphone or camera-equipped device, which means that Instacart’s network of 600,000 shoppers can access real-time shelf intelligence at scale using the app they already use on every order. Arpalus can prompt shoppers to adjust the camera angle or distance to ensure that every item on the shelf is captured accurately and efficiently.
Instacart shoppers visit large-format stores more than 15 times a day on average, generating more than 10 million unique daily data points. These feed directly back into Instacart’s models, creating a continuously improving picture of real-world store conditions. Now, with Arpalus’ shelf intelligence part of this system, Instacart can move closer to a future where every item ordered by a customer is seamlessly delivered.
Arpalus’ computer vision technology will also be used in Caper Carts equipped with external cameras as they roll through store aisles, updating in-store on-shelf inventory insights in real time. Together, Instacart and Arpalus expect to drive even more fulfillment efficiencies to create a better customer experience and new earning opportunities for shoppers while boosting inventory accuracy for retailers and brands.
“We believe the future of grocery retail is a unified experience powered by Instacart intelligence, where what happens in store connects seamlessly to e-commerce in real time,” noted David McIntosh, chief connected stores officer at San Francisco-based Instacart. “The Arpalus team has spent years building exceptional shelf intelligence technology, solving the problem of understanding what’s actually on store shelves, at any given moment. With our leadership in physical AI for grocery retail and by activating our network of shoppers, we can feed even more accurate shelf information back into our models, delivering better outcomes for customers, shoppers and our retail and brand partners.”
“Arpalus was founded to solve one of retail’s most fundamental challenges: bridging the gap between what happens in-store and the decisions driving business performance,” said Ofir Zilberberg, founder and CEO of Tenafly, N.J.-based Arpalus. “We built an AI platform that gives retailers real-time visibility into inventory and store execution, enabling faster and smarter decisions at scale. Joining Instacart is a transformative milestone. By combining Arpalus’ AI innovation with Instacart’s scale and retail reach, we are accelerating the future of intelligent retail and redefining how stores operate.”
For consumers shopping on the Instacart Marketplace, or on a retailer’s owned-and-operated website powered by Storefront Pro, more accurate inventory data means a more reliable shopping experience. For retailers, it directly enhances Store View, Instacart’s real-time computer vision solution, improving shelf availability and accuracy at the store level. It also enriches the sensor data generated by Caper Carts, which are now in more than 100 cities worldwide.
Instacart partners with more than 2,200 retail banners representing nearly 100,000 stores. Through the Instacart Marketplace, Instacart Enterprise platform, and Instacart Ads ecosystem, the company powers e-commerce, fulfillment, in-store technology, AI offerings, and advertising for partners. Maplebear Inc. is the registered corporate name of Instacart.
This article was originally published on P2PI sibling brand Progressive Grocer.
