French retailer Carrefour has launched an artificial intelligence chatbot that helps customers do their shopping. The retailer is also using generative AI for some internal processes, such as purchasing and product sheets.
Recipe ideas
On the carrefour.fr website, shoppers can now ask an intelligent assistant natural questions. The new chatbot is based on OpenAI technology, in particular GPT-4, and helps customers with their shopping. For example, it can suggest recipe ideas based on the contents of your fridge, or it can suggest a shopping basket based on a desired budget, dietary requirements or menu ideas. Cleverly, Hopla only answers food-related questions. To other questions, you get the response “I am not qualified to answer”.
It is not Carrefour’s only foray into generative AI: the retailer also already uses the technology to improve its product sheets – more than 2,000 of those that were generated with AI are already online. Carrefour has also started to use AI for its internal procurement processes: employees in the Achats Non Marchands department receive support for tasks such as preparing tenders and analysing offers. For all these solutions, Carrefour is working with OpenAI partners Bain & Company and Microsoft.
“Thanks to our digital and data culture, we have already come a long way with artificial intelligence. Generative AI will enable us to enrich our customers’ experience and fundamentally transform the way we work. Integrating OpenAI’s technologies is a great opportunity for Carrefour. By pioneering the use of generative AI, we want to be one step ahead and invent the retail world of tomorrow”, chairman and CEO Alexandre Bompard said.
