Kroger Treads a Path to AI Led By Associates, Customer Experience
The Kroger Co. is moving forward in its AI initiatives with a focus on improving the customer experience, assisting associates and producing better outcomes for the business, EVP and Chief Digital Officer Yael Cosset said last week at the Groceryshop event taking place in Las Vegas.
Cosset said the retailer's work with AI is built on data from Kroger's longstanding loyalty program, in addition to years of customer and operational data. The grocer applies insights from customer shopping patterns and its visibility into product availability and fulfillment to its efforts to improve the customer experience.
"This isn't new for Kroger," Cosset explained. "We've long been using data science and artificial intelligence to serve our customers by precisely forecasting demand, connecting customers with the most relevant savings opportunities and helping them find and get the products they need. Our latest investments in AI allow us to connect relevant business and operational signals to make decisions and take action faster."
Cosset pointed to Kroger's AI Shopping Assistant as an example of how the grocer is utilizing AI to improve the customer experience. The tool, launched in July, helps shoppers meal plan, find recipes and build carts based on things like budgets, dietary needs and customer preferences. Kroger also applies AI to conversational search.
He also pointed to Kroger's efforts to improve AI agents for its frontline associates to help them identify the most important information in a sea of daily notifications and tasks. Currently, the grocer is working to grant access to AI literacy and training tools to more than 400,000 associates.
"It's about more than simply granting access," Cosset said. "Teams need the skills and discernment to use AI responsibly, understanding where it is useful and redesign work around this new capability. At our core, the human connection to a customer or fellow associate will never be replaced by AI. Instead, AI will give our associates more time and insight to create that connection."
At the end of the day, Cosset said Kroger is moving its AI initiatives forward in three stages: assisted, augmented and autonomous.
"The goal is not autonomy everywhere," Cosset said. "The goal is using the right level of AI based on risk, repeatability and the need for human judgment. Different cases will sit at different stages, and strong governance remains at the center."
This article was originally published on P2PI sibling publication, Progressive Grocer.
