Arabic version: وكلاء التسوق بالذكاء الاصطناعي في قطاع التجزئة ما زالوا على بُعد سنوات من الاستخدام السائد

According to ABC News, Australia’s largest retailers are investing in artificial intelligence assistants that could eventually shop for customers, but experts say the technology remains years from becoming routine. AI chatbots are already used by major retailers, including Buddy at Bunnings and Olive at Woolworths, while Coles has identified conversational shopping as a possible investment area.

During full-year results presentations, major retailers highlighted “agentic commerce”, in which an AI program makes purchases for a customer. Woolworths chief executive Amanda Bardwell said Olive had become a personal shopping companion. Retail Customer Advisory director Trent Rigby said it would take at least three years before agentic shopping became standard practice in Australia, noting that Woolworths is beta testing Smart Basket but still keeps a human at checkout.

Online sales are also expanding. Coles reported a 26.4 per cent increase in online sales to $5.6 billion, nearly 14 per cent of all sales, while Woolworths’ online orders grew 18 per cent to almost $11 billion. Queensland University of Technology’s Gary Mortimer said as many as one in three products could soon be bought online, though transport and logistics costs could restrict profit margins.

Experts also raised concerns over customer costs, privacy and product choice. University of Sydney retail expert Lisa Asher said regulation was needed to limit “surveillance capitalism” as retailers use shopping data. Mr Rigby said groceries could be among the last retail categories to become fully agentic because customers are particular about fresh items and substitutions. Meanwhile, private-label products account for about 36 per cent of supermarket consumer sales, with experts warning that retailer-owned brands could eventually reduce competition and customer choice.