The AI-powered planning and shopping assistant can reduce shopping time down to as little as four minutes by digitizing recipes and lists, building smarter baskets and holding intelligent two-way conversations with the customer

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) today announced a major milestone in its digital transformation journey – the launch of the Albertsons AI shopping assistant, an industry-leading web browser experience designed to make grocery shopping faster, smarter and more personalized. As the industry leans into agentic commerce, the Albertsons AI shopping assistant moves beyond search to execute complex end‑to‑end grocery tasks helping customers complete shopping, from recipe to cart, in minutes. Building on the success of the company’s Ask AI tool introduced earlier this year, the agentic shopping assistant is a customer-friendly conversational experience powered by many collaborative agents, now available on all Albertsons Cos. banner websites as Albertsons AI, Safeway AI, Vons AI, Jewel-Osco AI and more.

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NYSE: ACI) today announced a major milestone in its digital transformation journey – the launch of the Albertsons AI shopping assistant, an industry-leading web browser experience designed to make grocery shopping faster, smarter and more personalized. As the industry leans into agentic commerce, the Albertsons AI shopping assistant moves beyond search to execute complex end‑to‑end grocery tasks helping customers complete shopping, from recipe to cart, in minutes. Building on the success of the company’s Ask AI tool introduced earlier this year, the agentic shopping assistant is a customer-friendly conversational experience powered by many collaborative agents, now available on all Albertsons Cos. banner websites as Albertsons AI, Safeway AI, Vons AI, Jewel-Osco AI and more.">

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) today announced a major milestone in its digital transformation journey – the launch of the Albertsons AI shopping assistant, an industry-leading web browser experience designed to make grocery shopping faster, smarter and more personalized. As the industry leans into agentic commerce, the Albertsons AI shopping assistant moves beyond search to execute complex end‑to‑end grocery tasks helping customers complete shopping, from recipe to cart, in minutes. Building on the success of the company’s Ask AI tool introduced earlier this year, the agentic shopping assistant is a customer-friendly conversational experience powered by many collaborative agents, now available on all Albertsons Cos. banner websites as Albertsons AI, Safeway AI, Vons AI, Jewel-Osco AI and more.

“Our goal at Albertsons Companies is to make our customers’ lives easier, and by implementing AI-powered features across the customer journey from discovery to purchase, we are delivering an experience that’s faster, easier and more enjoyable,” said Jill Pavlovich, SVP, Digital Customer Experience for Albertsons Cos. “We are laser-focused on using AI as part of our strategy to meet customers when and how they choose to shop, ultimately driving customer growth and engagement through digital connection. The Albertsons AI shopping assistant is an exciting step in this journey, with much more innovation to come.”

Smarter Shopping in Minutes

Powered by Open AI models, the Albertsons AI shopping assistant aims to reduce grocery shopping time from an average of 46 minutes* to as little as four minutes by helping customers plan meals, restock essentials, discover new products and shop smarter. The assistant can be accessed on banner web browsers in the Meals Hub and exemplifies agentic commerce, meaning it doesn’t just answer questions, it actively completes shopping tasks for customers, such as:

• Rapid Restock: Quickly reorder weekly essentials and frequent purchases.
• Plan Meals: Generate a practical weekly meal plan and shopping list with de-duplicated ingredients added to cart.
• Shop Lists: Type or upload an image of a written grocery list, and the assistant will find personalized products for everything on the list.
• Fridge Cleaner: Discover recipes using what’s already in the fridge and pantry, saving money and reducing food waste.
• Shop Recipe: Instantly import an online recipe or image and add ingredients to cart.
• Event-Ready: Choose a theme, or let the assistant use the next upcoming holiday, and see curated product ideas with offers.

“With the Albertsons AI shopping assistant, we can understand our customers’ needs on a deeper level, allowing us to serve them in the best way possible. Our current meal-planning capabilities are exceptional, and now, through dynamic two-way conversations with our shoppers, they can give us further context such as the customer is cooking a meal for six people but wants leftovers and one person is a vegetarian. We can provide tailored recommendations in the moment with all of these considerations and enhance future interactions with personalized product and recipe recommendations featuring our latest deals and coupons,” added Pavlovich.

Future Enhancements

Expanding into the Albertsons Cos. banner mobile apps in early 2026, the Albertsons AI shopping assistant will launch additional agentic commerce capabilities including budget optimization, in-store aisle location to find a specific product, and voice integration. Additionally, the assistant’s multi‑agent architecture sets the stage for compatibility with off‑platform agents, opening doors for future integrations with experiences like apps in the chat feature.

With the launch of the Albertsons AI agentic shopping assistant, Albertsons Cos. is underscoring its commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions, harnessing cutting-edge AI to deliver a smarter, more connected grocery experience. This innovation sets the foundation for future capabilities that will redefine convenience and personalization.

To experience Albertsons AI, visit albertsons.com/assistant. Media assets are available for download here.

* Capital One Shopping Research 2025

About Albertsons Companies:

Albertsons Companies is a leading food and drug retailer in the United States. As of September 6, 2025, the Company operated 2,257 retail stores with 1,720 in-store pharmacies, 405 associated fuel centers, 22 dedicated distribution centers and 19 manufacturing facilities. The Company operates stores across 35 states and the District of Columbia under 22 well known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, ACME, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Kings Food Markets and Balducci's Food Lovers Market. The Company is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2024, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the Company contributed more than $435 million in food and financial support, including more than $40 million through our Nourishing Neighbors Program to ensure those living in our communities and those impacted by disasters have enough to eat.

Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Haggen and Balducci's Food Lovers Market are registered trademarks of Albertsons Companies Inc. or its subsidiaries. ACME, Carrs, Kings Food Markets, Shaw's, and Star Market are trademarks of Albertsons Companies Inc. or its subsidiaries. Albertsons associated logos, product names and services are trademarks of Albertsons Companies, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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