Albertsons, one of the largest food and drug retailers in the USA, is the first retailer to bring Google Cloud’s Conversational Commerce agent to market, helping redefine how customers discover, plan and shop for groceries.

Conversational Commerce agent, an AI-powered offering on Vertex AI, provides a product discovery experience for business-to-consumer (B2C) retailers. As AI reshapes the retail landscape, this tool will offer retailers ways to personalise experiences, streamline operations and drive revenue.

Albertsons is leveraging the agent in its Ask AI tool, accessible via the search bar in all Albertsons banner store apps, including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme and Tom Thumb, to help customers build smarter, faster baskets through simplified product discovery, personalised recommendations and more intuitive shopping experiences.

“At Albertsons, we are focused on giving our customers the best experience possible for when and how they choose to shop,” said Jill Pavlovich, senior vice president at Albertsons. “By collaborating with Google Cloud to bring Conversational Commerce agent to market, we are providing our customers a way to move beyond traditional search to help them digitally shop across aisles, plan quick meal ideas, discover new products and even recommend unexpected items that pair well together. Our Ask AI tool provides personalised interaction and intuitive guidance that is transforming how our customers purchase groceries, ultimately making their experience more enjoyable and their lives a bit easier.”

The Conversational Commerce agent (cloud.google.com/retail/docs/conversational-search) builds on a long-standing partnership between Albertsons and Google Cloud focused on using technology to innovate within the retail sector. Designed for companies ranging from grocers to home improvement stores, and built on Vertex AI, Conversational Commerce is an AI-powered agent for shoppers that detects their intent and preferences, and engages in real-time, back-and-forth conversation to surface relevant results and recommendations.

This is tuned for ecommerce and designed to replicate the personalised shopping guidance consumers find in physical stores.

With Gemini (gemini.google.com), AI personalises the search experience, streamlining the journey from intent to purchase. By conversing with shoppers to understand their preferences and intent – such as “sweet versus salty” when buying snacks, for example – it recommends relevant products and encourages customers to explore unexpected items that meet their palettes. Early results at Albertsons show customers using Ask AI often add one or more additional items to their cart, uncovering products they might not have found otherwise.

Multi-turn conversations seamlessly adapt to customer needs, using guided prompts to help them easily clarify and refine results. Shoppers feel like they are having a multi-step conversation as opposed to getting canned answers from a chatbot.

The agent provides real-time answers for complex questions, such as product comparisons, and asks clarifying questions for ambiguous requests to guide shoppers to more precise results.

Built-in content, guardrails and feedback tools ensure shoppers receive information they can trust, with the AI models grounded in quality product data and responsible design practices.

Retailers can drive increased customer engagement, bigger baskets and improved revenue generation using the agent. When Albertsons customers interacted with the Ask AI platform, more than 85% of conversions started with open-ended or exploratory questions, demonstrating the need for personalised guidance.

“The future of retail is personal, predictive and effortless, and AI is the key to unlocking it,” said Paul Tepfenhart, global director of retail at Google Cloud (cloud.google.com). “Albertsons has been a phenomenal partner, helping us push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI. The grocer is already seeing powerful results with our new Conversational Agents for commerce tool, and we’re excited to bring this innovation to the rest of the industry.”

Albertsons (www.albertsonscompanies.com) is a food and drug retailer operating 2270 retail stores with 1728 in-store pharmacies, 405 associated fuel centres, 22 dedicated distribution centres and 19 manufacturing facilities.

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