Instacart Adds AI-Powered Tools to Deliver Personalized Grocery Shopping Recommendations

Instacart has added new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools that deliver more personalized grocery shopping recommendations based on the customer’s habits, health goals and dietary preferences.

With these new features, the grocery technology company’s app “takes the mental load out of finding the exact items that meet your preferences,” Instacart Chief Product Officer Daniel Danker said in a Wednesday (March 19) press release.

“By combining our new Smart Shop technology, Health Tags and Inspiration Pages, we’re not just improving online grocery shopping — we’re reimagining it, making it seamless to go from intention to action,” Danker said.

Smart Shop uses generative AI and machine learning to analyze customer habits and preferences and surface the most relevant products, according to the release. The technology detects patterns and occasionally proactively engages users to determine if they are deliberately seeking, for example, low-carb items.

Health Tags, which are also powered by AI, provide detailed nutritional information and help consumers view and filter items based on their preferences, the release said. Thirty Health Tags are currently available, including “gluten free,” “grass fed” and “heart healthy.”

Inspiration Pages are curated destinations within the Instacart app that provide health recommendations and shoppable recipes, per the release. The first Inspiration Page was developed in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association and features diabetes-friendly grocery and recipe recommendations.

“Whether you’re managing a chronic condition like diabetes or simply looking to make more informed food choices, we’re here to help make grocery shopping simpler and more personalized,” Sarah Mastrorocco, vice president and general manager of Instacart Health, said in the release.

Instacart CEO Fidji Simo said in February that the company is leveraging real-time data from shoppers and advancements in AI to develop tools to further optimize the shopping experience.

Over the past 12 years, Instacart has built a dataset that provides insights into consumer preferences, product details and shopping behavior, Simo said Feb. 25 during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

“Our edge begins with the breadth and depth of our product catalog, encompassing more than 2 billion product instances across our vast network of retailers,” Simo said. “We can refine this into 17 million unique items, and layer on detailed product insights, like nutrition facts, which can help with personalization, such as addressing dietary needs.”