HomeKitchen techGE's new Smart Refrigerator automates grocery shopping with a barcode scanner and InstacartThe company is trying to make the process of restocking your fridge as simple as scanning a barcode.Ian Carlos CampbellContributing ReporterFri, January 2, 2026 at 7:43 PM UTCSmart fridges are a dime a dozen at CES, and LG and Samsung have thoroughly explored what's possible when you connect your fridge to the internet or slap a touchscreen on the front.The new GE Profile Smart Refrigerator with Kitchen Assistant GE is announcing ahead of CES 2026 doesn't reinvent the wheel in that regard, but it does include a first: a built-in barcode scanner for adding items to your shopping list.GE's "Scan-to-List" feature uses the barcode scanner to quickly (and precisely) add items to a shareable shopping list in GE's SmartHQ app.You can refer to that list while you're shopping in person, or sync it with Instacart and have it delivered, eliminating the need to go grocery shopping entirely.
Inside the fridge, GE also includes a flush-mount LED bar with a built-in camera that can deliver "real-time, on-demand snapshots of crisper drawers, focusing on the most costly and perishable items." This "FridgeFocus" feature is supposed to prevent you from overbuying perishable produce that you might already have, by letting you see which perishables might go bad first.On top of those smart features, the GE Profile Smart Refrigerator has a four-door stainless steel design, with door-in-door storage and an adjustable temperature drawer.The fridge also has an 8-inch touchscreen display for viewing recipes or the current weather conditions, and microphones for accepting voice commands.When you're dispensing water, the fridge's water dispenser is supposed to be smart enough to fill a container with the exact right amount of water using built-in sensors, too.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe GE Profile Smart Refrigerator with Kitchen Assistant will be available from GE and select retailers starting in April 2026 for a suggested MSRP of $4,899.
