Albertsons Companies gets personal as retailer launches agentic grocery shopping assistant

Albertsons Companies has launched an AI shopping assistant, a web browser experience designed to make grocery shopping faster, smarter and more personalised.

Building on the company’s Ask AI tool introduced earlier this year, the agentic shopping assistant is powered by various collaborative agents and is now available on all Albertsons Cos. banner websites as Albertsons AI, Safeway AI, Vons AI, Jewel-Osco AI etc.

“Our goal is to make our customers’ lives easier, and by implementing AI powered features across the customer journey from discovery to purchase, we are delivering an experience that’s faster, easier and more enjoyable,” says Jill Pavlovich, SVP, Digital Customer Experience at Albertsons Cos.

“We are laser focused on using AI as part of our strategy to meet customers when and how they choose to shop, ultimately driving customer growth and engagement through digital connection. The Albertsons AI shopping assistant is an exciting step in this journey, with much more innovation to come.”

Powered by Open AI models, the Albertsons AI shopping assistant aims to reduce grocery shopping time from an average of 46 minutes to as little as four minutes by helping customers plan meals, restock essentials, discover new products etc. The assistant can be accessed on banner web browsers in the Meals Hub

“With the Albertsons AI shopping assistant, we can understand our customers’ needs on a deeper level, allowing us to serve them in the best way possible,” says Pavlovich.

“Our current meal-planning capabilities are exceptional, and now, through dynamic two way conversations with our shoppers, they can give us further context such as the customer is cooking a meal for six people but wants leftovers and one person is a vegetarian.”

“We can provide tailored recommendations in the moment with all of these considerations and enhance future interactions with personalised product and recipe recommendations featuring our latest deals and coupons.”

Expanding into the Albertsons Cos. banner mobile apps in early 2026, the shopping assistant will launch additional agentic commerce capabilities including budget optimisation, in-store aisle location to find a specific product, and voice integration. Additionally, ita multi‑agent architecture sets the stage for compatibility with off‑platform agents, opening doors for future integrations with experiences like apps in the chat feature.

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Check out categories and entry forms here.

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

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