Shipt and Instacart both launched AI assistants that build a grocery cart from a prompt or a photo on 9 September. Instacart said orders placed through its assistant contain more items than a typical order and exceed its $115 average basket, while Shipt’s announcement gives no equivalent figure and frames the product as relief from mental load. Neither company says whether paid placements can enter an assistant-built cart, or whether a shopper would be told.
Shipt launched Ask Shipt on 9 September, an assistant in its app that turns a prompt, a recipe or a photo of a meal into a cart. Instacart released Clementine the same day, which does the same job.
The Shelby Report set the two launches side by side, noting Kroger had already put an assistant across all its banners in July. Conversational cart building is now the fastest-moving front in grocery delivery.
One company published the number
Instacart said orders placed through Clementine contain more items than its typical order and come in above its $115 average basket. That is the commercial case for the product, stated plainly by the company selling it.
