Retailers vs. The Robots: A Battle for Your Shopping Cart 🛒🤖
Retailers are having a mild existential crisis. As shoppers start asking chatbots what to buy (“ChatGPT, get me the best air fryer”), brands are realizing they might lose control over how their products are pitched, bundled, or totally ignored.
So now, big names like Kroger, Lowe’s, and Papa Johns are building their own AI shopping agents — not because they love buzzwords, but because they’d rather not let someone else’s robot upsell their competitors.
AI: Shop, Don’t Drop
Kroger’s AI agent hangs out inside its app, helping customers compare products, plan meals, and remember that you’re a sucker for name brands on sale. It keeps the shopping decisions (and data) in-house — no need to share dinner plans with ChatGPT.
Lowe’s, meanwhile, has Mylow — their perky virtual assistant powered by Google’s tech — which has apparently doubled conversion rates. But the company is hedging its bets. “Tech changes every two weeks,” says Lowe’s CIO, who basically means “we’re not putting all our hammers in one AI toolbox.”
Papa Johns is staying chill — they’re testing Google’s pizza-ordering AI, which can calculate how many pies you’ll need based on a photo of your hangry friend group. “We don’t want to build AI,” says their tech chief. “We just want to use it to sell more pizza.”
Everyone’s Flirting, Nobody’s Committing
For now, every retailer is in the “it’s complicated” phase with AI — experimenting with agents, mixing vendors, and hoping they don’t hand over the keys to their virtual stores too soon.
Because if the robots are going to pick what we buy… retailers at least want them wearing their logo.
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