Carrefour brings AI shopping assistant to Belgium

Carrefour Belgium customers can now do their grocery shopping directly through ChatGPT. The retailer is following in the footsteps of Carrefour France, which launched this European first earlier this year in collaboration with Mealz.ai.

Shopping with ChatGPT

In March of this year, Carrefour claimed to have introduced a European first with the launch of a smart grocery assistant that allows shoppers to use ChatGPT to get recipe ideas, check product availability, put together a shopping cart, and choose a delivery method before finalizing and paying for their order on Carrefour.fr.

Now that assistant is coming to Belgium as well. Carrefour partnered with Mealz.ai to develop this new prototype. Customers log in to ChatGPT and activate the plugin. They can then call on the assistant during their conversations with @Carrefour Belgium. The assistant helps customers create a shopping list, check product availability, and place an order.

Linked to the Bonus Card

How useful is such an assistant? Carrefour provides a telling example. Suppose you have a family of four, including one vegetarian and a child with a gluten intolerance, and you want to quickly put together a weekly meal plan. The assistant immediately suggests a complete shopping cart, including prices. Customers can customize the list; after confirmation, they are automatically redirected to the Carrefour website to confirm their shopping cart.

Customers can choose to pick up their order in-store via Carrefour Drive or have it delivered to their home within 24 hours via Carrefour Delivery. Depending on their choice, preparation and delivery fees may apply. However, these fees are waived if customers order a certain amount or if promotions apply to the ordered products. For Carrefour Delivery, a minimum order amount of 60 euros applies.

The smart assistant takes preferences and food intolerances into account and remembers them for next time. It automatically links to the Carrefour Bonus Card, ensuring customers don’t miss out on any benefits or promotions. More handy features will follow in the weeks after the launch.

Pioneering role

With this launch, Carrefour Belgium reaffirms its role as a pioneer in the use of AI in retail. In addition to the smart assistant, Carrefour also operates a number of AI-powered BuyBye stores at strategic locations across Belgium. The news aligns with the retailer’s broader strategy. CEO Alexandre Bompard has repeatedly emphasized the central role of artificial intelligence in the group’s transformation.

Other retailers have also begun using assistants powered by ChatGPT and other AI agents; this includes, for example, Sephora, Gap, JD Sports, and Walmart.