The shopping assistant is the new shelf, and it already sells ads

Listen to what the biggest retailers said this fall. They're all building the same thing.

An AI shopping assistant that sits between the shopper and the shelf. And several of them already sell ads inside it.

What they're saying

• Walmart. At Goldman Sachs' Communacopia conference in September, Walmart Connect's Ryan Mayward said weekly active customers of Sparky, Walmart's assistant, doubled year over year, according to MarketBeat's report. Sparky trips carry a 40% higher average order value than other trips.
• Kroger. Kroger launched its AI shopping assistant with ads from day one. "It's just a natural evolution to include product listing ads within the shopping assistant when it's relevant to consumers," Brian Spencer of Kroger Precision Marketing told Modern Retail. At Groceryshop, Kroger's chief digital officer Yael Cosset described a path from assisted shopping to autonomous shopping.
• DoorDash. At Groceryshop, co-founder Andy Fang noted that nearly all customers prefer products with complete descriptions. Clarkston Consulting reported that shoppers using Ask DoorDash built 50% larger baskets.
• Instacart. CEO Chris Rogers argued AI could be the most transformative technology shift grocery has ever seen.
• Amazon and OpenAI. Advertisers can now buy ChatGPT ads through Amazon's DSP, Adweek reported. OpenAI keeps final say over which ads run.

The pattern

The shelf used to be a place. Now it's also an answer.

A shopper asks for a high-protein snack under five dollars. The assistant comes back with a short list. Maybe one product.

The brands on that list win the trip. Everyone else is invisible.

Two things decide who makes the list. What the assistant can read about your product. And, more and more, what you pay to be there.

Questions for brands

• If an assistant read only your product page, could it explain why you're worth buying?
• Are your titles, attributes, ingredients and reviews complete on every retailer site you sell on?
• Do you have a budget line for ads inside assistants? Or will you find out after a competitor does?
• How will you know an assistant sent the sale? Who's measuring it?
• What if the assistant recommends the store brand instead of you?

The shelf is moving into the chat box. Make sure you're on it.