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Following a successful launch in Halle, Colruyt’s self-scanning shopping cart is coming to Kessel-Lo and, next month, to Waterloo as well. With the innovative Smart Cart, customers can shop more efficiently, keep their budget under control, and move through the checkout more smoothly.
“Developed with customers in mind”
In March 2024, Colruyt Group had its in-house developed Smart Cart extensively tested for the first time by its own employees at the store in Halle. Following the successful test, the shopping cart was ready for a customer launch in September 2025. That launch has also proven to be a success: the Smart Cart already accounts for 10% of shopping trips in Halle. Now the smart shopping cart is expanding to two additional stores, in Kessel-Lo and Waterloo.
“We listened to our customers and developed our Smart Cart to meet their needs,” says Geert Elen, Head of Innovation at Colruyt Group. “Above all, doing weekly grocery shopping efficiently, keeping control of the budget, and saving time are important to our customers. Market research now also shows that customers cite these as the main advantages of the Smart Cart. In addition, customers simply enjoy getting to work with the technology, of course.”
“Not replacing all carts”
“Moreover, a smart shopping cart has a loyal following. When we look at users on a weekly basis, we see that 8 out of 10 customers have used the cart before and are now familiar with it. During peak times like Friday and Saturday, we even see customers waiting to use a Smart Cart. We are therefore looking forward to making more Smart Carts available to our customers in the future and thus further increasing their use.”
The expansion to two additional stores will allow Colruyt Group to observe how a broader group of customers reacts and determine the optimal number of carts per store. After all, the retailer does not plan to replace all carts with smart shopping carts. “We know that not all customers will use the Smart Cart for their shopping, and that is not our goal. We remain convinced of our current, unique checkout system, which offers advantages in terms of service and customer interaction. That is why we are also investing in the full rollout of our innovative Easy Checkout to all 273 Colruyt stores,” says Elen.
Earlier this year, Colruyt won the prestigious EHI Retail Technology Award (RETA) in the “Checkout smartstore” category with the smart cart. The concept was developed by Colruyt Group Technics, the Colruyt Group’s innovation team, in collaboration with Expresso.
