Story audio is generated using AI
A Checkers Sixty60 customer completed an online grocery shop worth more than R1,500 in just 15 seconds using the retailer’s artificial intelligence shopping assistant, Pixie.
Developed by ShopriteX, Pixie uses artificial intelligence to learn customers’ shopping habits and predict what they are likely to need before they begin browsing.
The record-breaking order included 10 products and was delivered to the customer within 31 minutes.
The figures were revealed by Shoprite Holdings, as it shared new data on the performance of Pixie, the AI shopping assistant launched on the Checkers Sixty60 app in April.
Rival retailer Pick n Pay this month also launched an AI feature, called Penny. Shoppers can dictate their shopping list using voice notes, upload photos of handwritten shopping lists or a list of ingredients from a recipe.
Shoppers can also photograph ingredients already in their fridge and ask for meal ideas, ask for recipes and instantly add ingredients to their basket. Penny can also help a shopper with a budget.
Shoprite said to date, Pixie had helped customers add more than four-million products to their shopping baskets.
“So far, Pixie’s number one user has added 730 products to their basket.”
The retailer said Pixie’s Smart Basket becomes increasingly personalised with every order. “Within just three months, 98% of Xtra Savings Plus customers have used Pixie, making it one of the fastest adopted features in Sixty60’s history.”
Beyond simplifying shopping, Shoprite said the technology was also driving higher spending per order, “illustrating the potential of AI-powered personalisation to create value for both customers and the retailer”.
ShopriteX chief of strategy and innovation Neil Schreuder said the rapid uptake showed that customers were willing to embrace artificial intelligence when it delivered practical benefits.
“Talking about AI is one thing, but AI that genuinely saves customers time is another. Every unnecessary tap, search and scroll that Pixie removes is friction taken out of the shopping experience. The more customers use it, the better it understands their shopping habits, making each shop simpler and more intuitive than the last,” said Schreuder.
TimesLIVE
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