The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
Depending on who you talk to, artificial intelligence may pose a risk of killing humans in a few years. Or, it might take over the dreaded task of grocery shopping.
Earlier this week, Instacart and Shipt each unveiled AI-powered shopping assistants on their marketplaces. Instacart already has a similar capability for its retail partners’ websites.
Kroger and Walmart have already rolled out AI shopping assistants to help people get meal inspiration and build online grocery carts. Smaller grocers are joining in, too. Schnuck Markets, for example, said earlier this summer that it is rolling out an agentic shopping assistant on its app and website.
Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference on Wednesday, Instacart CEO Chris Rogers said the grocery technology company is rolling out AI tools like its newly released shopping assistant, Clementine, to help retailers and advertisers better connect with consumers.
“We think agents like Clementine are going to be able to remove the friction and create a far more personalized and intuitive grocery shopping experience, which I think is going to accelerate online adoption,” Rogers said.
AI can learn a user’s preferences and follow instructions like sticking to a budget or selecting products based on certain nutrition criteria. But as grocers and tech providers roll out AI assistants and set up integrations with AI chatbots like ChatGPT, how will the technology factor in the emotional impact of grocery shopping? Will an AI assistant be aware of the nostalgia and coziness tied to pumpkin spice lattes? Can it understand how a pop of bright pink packaging can incentivize an impulse buy?
In the quest for optimized personalization for real customers, how “human” can AI become?
In case you missed it
Kroger hits fifth consecutive quarter of visit growth
The grocery company’s streak of increased store visits continues, according to recent data from Placer.ai, which found that Kroger’s visits rose 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026, with average visits per location up 1.6% year over year. All five of Kroger’s banners posted positive same-store visit growth in Q2 despite the fact that overall visits ticked down at Harris Teeter and Fred Meyer amid store closures, the firm noted.
New York grocer expands into Connecticut
New York-based family grocer DeCicco & Sons opened its first Connecticut store on Wednesday in the Glenville region of Greenwich, local news outlet CT Insider reported earlier this week. The publication noted the new location, the grocer’s 12th, fills a void in the community, which has been without a local grocery store since the nearby Stop & Shop shuttered in 2023.
Produce and a show
Local San Francisco grocer Rainbow Grocery hosted an NPR-style “Tiny Desk” concert right in its produce aisle, KQED reported Wednesday. The grocer’s “Under the Rainbow” series, which started on Wednesday, gives a stage to local Bay Area musical acts. A representative for Rainbow Grocery told the publication that it will post short concert videos on social media every other week.
Impulse find
The Devil Wears Chicken
Walmart is elevating its rotisserie chicken game by making the signature grab-and-go item “Not edible, [but] incredible!”
In honor of National Chicken Month, which began Sept. 1, the retailer released limited-edition rotisserie chicken purses and coordinating bag charms inspired by its rotisserie chicken offering.
Walmart and rotisserie chicken lovers alike can choose between two “flavor” bags — traditional or lemon pepper — for just under $6. The line also includes the two chicken flavors, hot sauce and lemon pepper seasoning, all as charms. According to Walmart’s site, the purses have already sold out, but the charms are still available.
