American grocery chain Kroger and grocery tech specialist Instacart are expanding their partnership to include agentic AI in the retailer’s digital customer shopping experience.

With the move, Kroger becomes one of the first retailers to offer customers access to Instacart's AI assistant, Cart Assistant.

The chatbot will be available to US-based customers on Kroger's iOS mobile app.

Cart Assistant is an AI-powered shopping assistant designed to help customers find meal inspiration, fill their carts with their favourite products more quickly, and plan meals more easily.

Kroger currently serves over 11 million customers daily through its e-commerce site and retail food stores under a variety of banner names.  

Yael Cosset, executive vice president and chief digital officer at Kroger, said that agentic shopping has the potential to change the way American families shop and eat.

"Interacting with an AI agent makes shopping and meal planning as simple as a conversation, helping customers build their basket or offering meal suggestions, truly understanding what matters most to them,” he said.

He went on to say that the new assistant aims to make grocery shopping easy and fun for families across the country, helping customers save money and time.

The chatbot integration is part of Kroger’s wider digital strategy which focuses on the use of AI-centric capabilities to improve both customer experience and operational efficiency.

Kroger is also improving access to the Express Delivery service on its website through the partnership.

As well as this, the move represents an opportunity for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to reach customers with messages and offers through increased engagement and improved retail media options.

The expanded partnership, which began in 2017, currently supports flexible deliveries from nearly 2,700 stores across more than 20 chains in the country.

Instacart currently partners with more than 1,800 national, regional, and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from nearly 100,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace.

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