Dive Brief:
- Albertsons is the first retailer to debut Google Could’s Conversational Commerce agent via its Ask AI tool, Google Cloud said Wednesday. Ask AI, which launched earlier this year, aims to simplify product discovery, personalize recommendations and provide more intuitive shopping experiences.
- Consumers can access the tool in the search bar of Albertsons banner store apps, including Albertsons, Safeway and Shaw's.
- Albertsons’ AI tool “moves beyond traditional search,” Jill Pavlovich, SVP of digital customer experience at Albertsons, said in a press release. “Our Ask AI tool provides personalized interaction and intuitive guidance that is transforming how our customers purchase groceries, ultimately making their experience more enjoyable and their lives a bit easier.”
Dive Insight:
As more consumers use AI tools for product discovery, retailers from Ralph Lauren to Lowe’s are looking to meet their needs by rolling out conversational interfaces for customers to browse and purchase items.
More than two-thirds of consumers say they’ve interacted with AI prompts and results when searching for products online, according to an adMarketplace survey from April.
The standout application of Albertsons’ tool is reducing friction during discovery, according to Julie Geller, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group. Keyword search can be limiting for such vague desires as, “I need something quick for dinner, what can I buy to make it a complete meal?”
Albertsons’ Ask AI tool can have such conversations with consumers, clarify their preferences through prompts and questions, and suggest new items they might like.
Early evidence shows it appears to increase basket size, too. Customers who use Ask AI frequently tend to add one or more additional items, Albertsons found.
Better product discovery is among consumers’ top desires. Customers ranked “finding the products I am looking for more easily” as the factor that would improve their shopping experience the most, according to an Attentive survey from earlier this year. Consumers also say personalized product recommendations and help discovering products faster are the most useful applications of AI, according to an Omnisend survey from earlier this year.
While some retailers have begun building their own AI assistants from scratch, most retailers lack the resources and infrastructure to do so, Geller said. She often recommends they take a hybrid approach.
“A proven platform like Google Cloud provides scale and guardrails, and then they can layer proprietary data, brand-specific conversational design, and customer insights on top,” Geller said in an email. “That balance gives speed to market without losing uniqueness.”
But no matter the method, data hygiene is paramount to building a successful AI tool, Geller says.
“No conversational agent can mask poor data,” she said. “Messy catalogs, thin product attributes, or outdated inventory feeds impact overall CX, no matter how innovative the design.”
