Doing your shopping by talking on WhatsApp and receiving it at home in a matter of an hour is already a reality in parts of the Basque Country. Eroski has launched Eroski Smart Shop, a new solution that allows you to process your food order through a conversation with an Artificial Intelligence system integrated into the popular messaging app.
This proposal begins as pilot test in Bilbaowhere it is being tested in nine of the cooperative's supermarkets. The goal is to determine how comfortable consumers are with a more conversational, faster, and personalized shopping experience before considering its potential rollout to other areas.
How does Eroski's AI-powered WhatsApp shopping work?
The operation of Eroski Smart Shop is based on a The interaction is very similar to that with any contact on WhatsApp.The user initiates the conversation, indicates what they need, and the system, supported by Artificial IntelligenceIt interprets those messages to automatically build the order.
The key feature is that the purchase can be communicated in several ways: by writing text messages, sending audio messages, or sharing imagesFor example, simply send a photo of your handwritten shopping list and the tool will read it, recognize the products, and generate a shopping cart proposal ready for review.
Once the system has understood the need, configure a shopping cart which is presented to the client for validation. At that point, changes can be made, items can be added, unwanted items can be removed, or details such as brands, sizes, or formats can be specified, always maintaining the tone of a simple conversation.
Once the order is confirmed, the transaction is completed through the quick commerce platform that Eroski works with. Payment is made in this secure environment. From there, the order goes into preparation so that it arrives at the address in approximately one hour, depending on the area and the workload of the establishment.
Where is the Eroski Smart Shop pilot available?
For now, this new AI-powered WhatsApp shopping service is being tested on a limited basis. Eroski has chosen nine of its own stores in Bilbao. to launch the project, which will function as a laboratory for a certain period of time.
The cooperative has predicted that the the pilot program will last for a full year.During this period, aspects such as channel usage levels, user satisfaction, actual delivery speed, and the types of incidents that may arise on a daily basis will be monitored.
With all that information, Eroski will look optimize the shopping experience and adjust both the technology and internal processes. Only after analyzing the results will it be assessed whether it makes sense to scale the model to other locations or even more regions, always within the context of the Spanish market.
This gradual approach allows testing the acceptance of a service that, although it relies on a widely used application like WhatsApp, involves a significant change in the way people interact with the supermarketPartially replacing traditional web or app navigation with a fluid dialogue.
A conversational, personalized, and fast experience
The essence of Eroski Smart Shop is to transform grocery shopping into a more natural conversational experienceInstead of selecting products from a digital catalog, the customer simply explains what they want, as if they were talking to a person.
Behind that experience is an Artificial Intelligence system capable of interpreting everyday language, understand generic requests and adapt to specific conditionsThus, it is possible to ask for "things to make a quick pasta for two" or "ingredients for a light dinner" and get a coherent proposal of products.
In addition to building the shopping cart, the tool can suggest complete menus and personalized recipesThese proposals take into account dietary preferences, the possible nutritional needs indicated by the user, and also the approximate budget with which they want to work.
The result is an experience that aims to be faster than traditional online shoppingThis is especially useful for those who already use WhatsApp extensively and prefer to resolve these issues with a couple of messages and without navigating through different sections.
Prioritizing savings without sacrificing desired brands
One of the aspects that Eroski emphasizes is the balance between personalization and spending controlWhen the customer makes a generic request, without mentioning any specific brand, the system is configured to select the cheapest option available in the assortment by default.
This approach seeks to facilitate a budget-friendly purchase without the user having to review each product individually. However, if a specific brand is mentioned during the conversation, the system can replace the suggested item with that particular product, even if it's not the cheapest in the category.
In this way, the user maintains control over Key aspects such as price, brand, or formatBut you can delegate the more mechanical work of building the cart and locating alternatives that fit your criteria to Artificial Intelligence.
The company emphasizes that the idea is simplify everyday shopping Taking advantage of technology, but without losing sight of the fact that for many families the economic factor remains a determining factor when choosing where and how to shop.
A service aligned with new digital habits
The launch of Eroski Smart Shop takes place within a context in which the Food consumption habits are being rapidly digitizedRecent reports indicate that around 81% of sales in this sector are already influenced by online channels in stages such as information search, planning or repurchase, although the final transaction is not always completed online.
Furthermore, studies by firms such as NielsenIQ indicate that main reason for using digital channels When it comes to grocery shopping, saving time is paramount, even more so than price or product range. Meanwhile, quick commerce, or ultra-fast shopping, is experiencing double-digit growth in several markets in southern and western Europe, with a significant presence in the food sector.
In this scenario, it makes sense for distribution chains to explore more immediate and flexible purchase formatsthat fit into a daily life increasingly marked by immediacy and mobility. Integrating shopping into a widely used messaging app responds to this logic of convenience.
The role of innovation in Eroski's strategy
Within this scenario, the cooperative group seeks to position itself close to the trends that are shaping the future of food distributionThe development of Eroski Smart Shop is part of a line of work that combines innovation in retail, digital transformation, the use of Artificial Intelligence and new models of customer relations.
Company officials, such as the coordinator of retail innovation and digital transformation, have indicated that the goal is that Making a purchase is as easy as sending a message or have a spontaneous conversation on an app that is already part of the daily routine for a large part of the population.
The initiative is therefore presented as a further step in the evolution of traditional online shopping towards more conversational and assisted formatswhere the user doesn't have to learn to handle a new interface, but simply express themselves naturally.
With these types of pilot projects, Eroski obtains valuable information about how consumers interact with AI-based solutionsWhat kind of doubts arise, what barriers they encounter, and what elements they value most, which can influence future technological developments and the in-store experience itself.
The implementation of purchases via WhatsApp using Artificial Intelligence ultimately means a significant experiment in the Spanish market in food distribution. By integrating an everyday channel like WhatsApp with advanced AI capabilities and fast delivery times, Eroski is exploring a path that combines convenience, personalization, and price focus, waiting to see over the next year how well it fits with consumers' actual expectations and habits.
