At Albertsons Cos., our commitment to digital innovation is not just a strategy – it’s how we serve the evolving needs of millions of customers across the country. From the moment we set out on our digital transformation journey, our focus has been on building an ecosystem that gives shoppers simplicity, personalization and delight, whether they shop in-store or online.
Leading the Way with the Albertsons Cos. App
Our Albertsons Cos. app has become the heartbeat of our omni-channel experience with 13+ million active visitors each month and a 4.8 rating in the app store. Engaged customers interact nearly three times per week on average, leveraging a host of features to remove the chore of everyday shopping and maximize customer happiness:
- Integrated Shopping Lists: Millions of customers use our lists feature, simplifying planning and making it easier to remember every last item.
- Personalized Meal Planning: Our app curates meal kits and recipes (including your own!) tailored to household preferences, helping customers build smarter baskets for their families.
- Flexible Basket Building: Customers can add items to their orders right up until an associate starts shopping for the products.
- Omni-Channel Integration: Shopping in store or online, customers have a consistent experience across our services from refilling a prescription at the pharmacy to ordering a custom cake to choosing how they want to pick up their order or have it delivered.
- Connected Experiences: With Shop Assist, customers can talk directly to in-store associates throughout their online order fulfillment process, ensuring accuracy and satisfaction from cart to doorstep.
Driving Innovation with Google: Launch of Conversational Commerce agent
Our most recent leap forward comes through a marquee collaboration with Google Cloud. Albertsons Cos. is proud to be the first retailer to bring this cutting-edge technology to market, transforming how customers search, plan and shop for groceries. Now available in all Albertsons Cos. banner apps, our Ask AI tool (powered by Google’s Conversational Commerce agent) helps customers build smarter, faster baskets through simplified product discovery, personalized recommendations, and a more intuitive shopping experience.
What Makes Ask AI Transformative?
- Personalized Search: Ask AI uses natural language to understand what customers want and helps them find products that match. Users can start a chat to explore items, answer questions about what they like (for example, sweet or salty), get customized recommendations, and even discover fun new combinations and/or pairings.
- Encourages Discovery: Current customer usage tells us that customers are looking for help discovering new products or services and often, they don’t know what search terms to use to find what they want. Over 85% of Ask AI conversations begin with open-ended or exploratory questions. With this interactive tool, we can guide the customer in conversation and help find exactly what they need.
- Intelligent & Contextual Answers: Ask AI educates our customers by providing answers to complex questions, like product comparisons or meal ideas, and giving the context behind the answers. Ask AI guides customers to precise results all while ensuring the information is grounded in trusted data.
- Safe and Responsible Design: Built-in guardrails and feedback tools support a more trustworthy digital environment for every user.
A New Way to Shop, Explore and Learn
By supporting open-ended, discovery-oriented conversations, the Ask AI tool helps customers unlock new possibilities across a wide range of use cases, from product education to culinary creativity without having to know exactly what they’re looking for:
- Discovery & Education: “What vegetables have vitamin C?” or “What to consider when buying laundry detergent?”
- Product Comparisons: “What’s the difference between pasture-raised and cage-free eggs?”
- Personalized Recommendations: “What's a good hair care routine for curly hair?” or “What to pack for my kids’ lunch?”
- Food Pairing Advice: “What wine goes well with salmon?” or “What side dishes are good for a BBQ?”
- Quick Meal Bundles: “Taco night ingredients,” “DIY pizza night,” or “Stuff for smores”
Driving Real-World Impact
This collaboration builds on a long-standing relationship between Albertsons Cos. and Google to use technology as a lever for retail innovation. With Conversational Commerce agent, Albertsons Cos. is not just adopting an off-the-shelf solution but co-creating the future of grocery retail.
Looking Ahead
We believe the future of retail is personal, predictive and effortless. By investing in digital platforms, forging groundbreaking partnerships and relentlessly focusing on the value we deliver to our customers, Albertsons Cos. is charting a course for industry leadership in the digital age.
Stay tuned as we continue to introduce new offerings, expand our digital ecosystem and shape the next era of grocery shopping – one innovation at a time.