Shipt has rolled out a new chat-to-cart feature, aiming to make grocery shopping easier. Partnering with Perplexity and its Comet browser, Shipt wants to help customers build their carts and discover new products using AI.
The goal is to speed up the shopping process, blending human touch with tech.
The Innovation Behind Shipt's AI Assistant
Shipt, known for its same-day grocery delivery, is trying something new. They've teamed up with Perplexity, a software company, and are using its Comet browser.
This partnership is supposed to make shopping better by helping people find products and put together their grocery lists faster. The idea is that AI can help with building your cart and finding things you might like, saving you time.
Buying the Idea, But Not the Execution
When looking at Shipt's new chat-to-cart feature, the general feeling is that the idea is pretty good. It makes sense to use AI to help people shop. However, there's a big question mark around how it's actually being rolled out.
The main hurdle? Customers have to download a whole new browser, Comet, just to use this feature. For most people, that's a lot of extra steps. It creates friction, meaning it's not as simple as it could be.
Shipt seems to be in a hurry to be the first to market with this kind of AI shopping tool. They had to decide: be first with some customer hassle, or wait until it's perfectly smooth? The folks discussing this think Shipt might have been better off waiting.
Why the Friction Matters
Shipt hasn't typically been the first company to launch new concepts. Their customers are used to a certain level of ease. Asking them to download another app or browser, on top of the Shipt app they already use, might be too much. People like Shipt because it's easy and reliable.
If customers have to go to a separate application like Comet, it might just be too difficult for them to adopt. This could mean the feature doesn't get used much, even though it's a good idea for the future.
Potential Downsides and Future Worries
There's a worry that this move could lead to a "false negative." If nobody uses the feature because it's too hard to get to, the people in charge might think AI shopping tools aren't worth investing in. But the real problem wouldn't be the AI itself, but how it was put into practice.
It's suggested that Shipt could have made this work better by building it directly into the Shipt app. That way, the user experience would be smoother, and people would be more likely to try it out.
Right now, it seems like very few people will go through the trouble of downloading and using Comet just for grocery shopping.
The Right Idea, Wrong Timing?
Despite all the buzz around Perplexity and Comet online, getting people to change their habits and start using a new browser for shopping is a big ask. The feature was announced a while ago, and it's taken time to come out, which doesn't help.
Ultimately, it feels like Shipt has a good idea here, but the timing and the way they've executed it might be off. It might end up being more of a PR win – a headline that sounds innovative – rather than something that shoppers actually use and benefit from on a large scale.
