Instacart has acquired Arpalus, a shelf intelligence technology company designed for grocery retailers (Retail TouchPoints). The technology creates a real-time picture of what is on a store shelf from a video scan, with accuracy of 95% on average even when products are packed tightly together, lighting is inconsistent, or internet connectivity is unreliable (Retail TouchPoints).
The technology can be deployed on smartphones or any camera-equipped device, allowing Instacart's network of 600,000 shoppers to generate shelf data (Retail TouchPoints). Instacart's smart Caper Carts, deployed to 100 cities worldwide, can also be fitted with external cameras to update on-shelf inventory in real time, improving fulfillment efficiency and inventory accuracy for retailers (Retail TouchPoints). For commerce practitioners, this acquisition strengthens the connection between physical store operations and ecommerce fulfillment, enabling faster inventory synchronization and reducing stockouts on both Instacart's marketplace and retailer storefronts under Storefront Pro.
Instacart surpassed $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time in Q1, with growth driven in part by its suite of enterprise offerings for retailers (Retail TouchPoints). Arpalus technology will enhance Instacart's AI Solutions and overall Physical AI strategy for grocery retail.