Tesco and Sainsbury's have both started to roll out an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant designed to help customers plan their weekly shop. The two UK supermarket chains began trialling the assistant earlier this year, with the feature linked to information gathered through purchases made using their respective membership schemes.
Tesco's Clubcard-linked assistant
Tesco said the assistant's use of Clubcard information would mean it would be able to advise customers on what they may already have in their cupboard or fridge. Customers will have the ability to search for meals based around cost or type of cuisine, or both, and create a dish by listing items they already have at home that they would like to use up.
The feature would be built into the Tesco app as part of a long-term plan to expand its functionality "so it can help customers with more parts of their day-to-day lives and provide them with a genuinely intelligent, helpful shopping experience". Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy said: "We are also making strong progress on AI-enabled personalisation, extending Your Clubcard Prices and beginning the customer rollout of our meal planning assistant, helping customers manage their busy lives."
Sainsbury's SmartLists feature
The AI-powered SmartLists feature within the Sainsbury's app is designed to help customers plan their shop, create a shopping list, find products more easily in store and manage their budget with Nectar prices. SmartLists lets customers create shopping lists by typing or taking a photo of what they need, matching the list to Sainsbury's products.
Items can then be added straight to the trolley for online orders. Alternatively, they can photograph a list they have already scribbled down or speak their requests into the app. Customers could, for example, write "ingredients for spaghetti bolognese" or "pasta bake" and receive a suggested list of everything they may need.
Shoppers will still be able to review the recommendations, select their preferred products and remove anything they do not want before buying. The SmartLists feature is available through the upgraded Sainsbury's app. Sainsbury's product director Ben Edge said: "We know our customers are busy and want shopping to feel simple, joyful and easy to fit around their lives. SmartLists is designed to take the effort out of creating and buying a shopping list, whether customers are typing, speaking or taking a picture of what they need."
Development and rollout
Tesco said its in-house teams had been working with Tomoro AI - a UK-based AI consultancy founded in 2023, in alliance with OpenAI – on the development of the new assistant, with the work taking place under "strict secrecy protocols" since autumn last year. It said AI had been "behind the scenes" of its operations, including its Clubcard loyalty programme "for years" to "improve the overall shopping experience".
