Schnucks has introduced two digital shopping features ahead of the back-to-school season: an AI-powered shopping assistant and an enhanced interactive weekly ad. Both are available through the Schnucks Rewards app and schnucks.com.
AI shopping assistant
The agentic shopping assistant, announced in late July and launched Aug. 12, delivers meal planning, savings, cooking tips, party planning and food and wine pairings personalized to each customer.
“This agent will allow us to better understand each customer’s unique wants and needs, helping to build stronger relationships with them by providing tailored solutions such as meal ideas, health and dietary support, budget management and culinary inspiration,” said Ted Schnuck, COO of Schnucks.
Customers can give the assistant a budget and ask it to build a shopping list or Schnucks Delivers/Curbside Pickup order using the week’s best deals, request recipes for picky eaters along with in-store ingredient locations, ask for meal ideas based on what’s already in the pantry or seek personalized nutritional guidance for specific diets and food allergies.
The assistant is powered by an intelligence layer built from more than 6 billion lines of shopping, health and nutrition data. It was co-developed with VitalityIP using real customer journeys and Schnucks’ store inventory.
“Shoppers want a personalized experience and are asking more from their food – better choices for their health, their families and their goals,” said Sarah Hoit, co-founder and CEO of VitalityIP. “The platform we developed with Schnucks puts that power of precision nutrition right where people shop.”
Interactive weekly ad
The retailer also debuted a fully interactive weekly ad. Customers can clip digital coupons directly from the ad, add items to their shopping list or Schnucks Delivers/Curbside cart and view product details.
“We’ve upgraded our weekly ad to make shopping easier than ever,” said Cristina Preston, digital marketing director at Schnucks.
The ad also allows customers to view all related sale items in one place, search and filter deals by brand, category and deal type, activate and track Schnucks Rewards Boosts within the app, switch between in-store and Schnucks Delivers/Curbside Pickup while browsing and toggle between the interactive ad and a classic view, including a sneak peek of next week’s ad. Printed copies of the current and upcoming ads remain available at all stores.
Founded in St. Louis in 1939, family-owned Schnuck Markets Inc. operates 112 stores in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana and employs more than 11,000 teammates. The company is part of 1939 Group Inc., whose family of companies also includes Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers Inc.
Related: Schnucks, VitalityIP To Launch Personalized AI Shopping Assistant