Conversational commerce — shopping through a conversation with an AI assistant instead of a traditional search bar — has stopped being an experiment. Albertsons, one of the largest supermarket chains in the U.S., now has the numbers to prove it.
The results: higher average order value, not just more traffic
According to the company itself, customers using conversational search spend on average 10% more than those using traditional keyword search. When they use a more complete AI assistant — one capable of building recipes and accounting for dietary preferences — that increase reaches 26%. The company even launched a plugin for its Safeway brand inside ChatGPT, so people can discover products by chatting instead of typing loose keywords.
Why this matters beyond supermarkets
Albertsons is facing a tough year for in-store sales, hit hard by inflation. That its conversational AI channel is growing precisely in that context is the strongest signal yet that AI in digital marketing isn’t a fad — it’s driving real revenue while the rest of the business contracts.
It’s not an isolated case
McKinsey, in a broader retail study, documented other chains seeing conversion rise more than 50% and gross margin improve by 2-3% after implementing AI, along with inventory cost reductions of up to 20% thanks to better demand forecasting.
What this means for your business
You don’t need to be a global supermarket chain to apply this logic: any business with a catalog of products or services can evaluate whether a conversational assistant — even a simple one, inside WhatsApp or on your own website — helps a customer decide faster, and spend more, than a traditional search box would.
Sources
- Marketing Tech News, “Albertsons says AI shoppers spend more: Is conversational commerce finally proving its value?”
- McKinsey & Company, AI in retail study cited in the original report
- Official Albertsons / Safeway announcements