Schnucks Rolls Out Instacart’s Electronic Shelf Label Technology Chainwide
Midwestern private grocery chain operator Schnuck Markets is integrating Instacart’s Carrot Tags software solution with its electronic shelf labels hardware (also known as ESLs or digital shelf labels) chainwide.
Schnucks will leverage Carrot Tags’ pick-to-light functionality at most stores, enabling Instacart couriers (also called “Instacart Shoppers”) to activate items from their picking list within the Instacart app to trigger a flash on the corresponding ESL. Schnucks first began testing this functionality in 2023 to increase order fulfillment accuracy and customer satisfaction, and “quickly saw success” across its pilot stores, according to a media release from Instacart.
Instacart integrated with Schnucks' ESL hardware provider Aperion to enable the pick-to-light functionality. Aperion is just one of the ESL providers that connect to Carrot Tags software.
"As our first retail partner to introduce Carrot Tags' pick-to-light functionality chainwide, we're incredibly excited by the telling results of our partnership,” David McIntosh, vice president and general manager of Connected Stores at Instacart, said in the release. “Because Schnucks is using pick-to-light, we're seeing an increase in found rates, which in turn provides higher order quality and customer satisfaction.”
In addition to pick-to-light, Carrot Tags will soon connect to Caper Carts to help customers locate items more easily on the shelf. Carrot Tags is part of Instacart's Connected Stores suite of in-store technologies, designed to bridge the online and in-store shopping experience for retailers and customers.
"We're always striving to give our customers the most reliable online experience, and Carrot Tags' pick-to-light functionality has helped us ensure our customers receive exactly what they ordered," added Bob Hardester, chief information and supply chain officer at Schnucks. "As we continue to digitize our stores, we believe that Carrot Tags is an integral part of our omnichannel approach – especially once they connect to customer-facing technology like Caper Carts.”
Schnucks and Instacart first began their partnership in 2017. Their collaboration now spans a “full omnichannel suite” of offerings, including Caper Carts, Storefront, Carrot Ads and Eversight.
[Also Read: Schnucks Enhances Digital Promotions With Ibotta]
Carrot Tags also has the capability to display information, such as whether a specific product is gluten-free, organic, Kosher or eligible for EBT SNAP. It also can enable shoppers to save a recipe to their online retailer profile by scanning a QR code visible on the ESL.
