Uber Eats on Wednesday announced Cart Assistant, a new AI feature designed to help customers refill their grocery carts faster and easier. A beta version is now available in the app.
To use the new chatbot, users search for a grocery store in the Uber Eats app and tap the purple cart assistant icon on the store’s page to start shopping.
Customers enter their list or upload an image of their list, and Cart Assistant automatically adds the products they want to their basket. This includes photos of handwritten lists and screenshots of recipes and their ingredients. Users can customize their basket by swapping items for their favorite brands or adding items from their store.
Uber Eats says Cart Assistant can use your previous orders to better personalize your experience, prioritizing familiar items like your regular milk or your favorite oatmeal.
“Our users have told us they want faster ways to shop, and we know how valuable your time is,” Praveen Nepali Naga, Uber’s chief technology officer, said in a statement. “Cart Assistant helps you go from idea to purchase in seconds.”
Cart Assistant could help Uber Eats become more competitive with other food delivery and grocery store apps that have already integrated or developed AI chatbots. For example, Instacart launched an AI search tool powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2023 to help customers save time and receive personalized shopping recommendations. DoorDash was also reportedly testing an AI chatbot called DashAI that same year.
Last year, Uber Eats and rival DoorDash both integrated with ChatGPT to streamline food ordering. Uber Eats allows U.S. users to browse local restaurants and menus on ChatGPT and complete purchases in the Uber Eats app. DoorDash integration allows users to request a meal plan and automatically add all the necessary ingredients to their DoorDash cart.
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Notably, Bloomberg reported in 2023 that Uber Eats is developing an AI-powered chatbot that will likely ask users about their budget and food preferences and assist them with ordering.
Overall, Uber Eats is rapidly investing in AI, including tools for merchants such as AI-generated menu descriptions, enhanced food photos, and summaries of customer reviews.
