ChatGPT: the next major shift in online grocery shopping

Supermarket shopping has arrived on ChatGPT, with OpenAI introducing product recommendations and purchasing options to its AI chatbot. So how significant is the move? What does it entail? And how should brands and retailers respond?

In a single update, ChatGPT stands to completely change how consumers discover food brands and do their grocery shopping.

“ChatGPT stepping into shopping doesn’t just tweak the funnel, it tears it open,” says Nina Goli, head of digital strategy at Modern Citizens, whose clients include Anchor, Jordans, Ryvita, Tetley and Carling.

The new function, added last month, means users asking questions such as “what’s a quick healthy meal for less than a fiver?” are not only served suitable recipes, but online stores where the ingredients can be bought, and a ‘buy’ button to take them straight there.

Most major UK supermarkets are cropping up in results, as are several artisan stores and specialist suppliers. ChatGPT users – of which there are 400 million every week – can refine their results, asking for ‘cheaper’ or ‘fancier’ options.

Being part of the answer

ChatGPT is an AI large language model that interacts with users in a conversational way, drawing on practically the entire internet to answer queries. Its conversational interaction with users, with which it can now direct them to point of purchase, is very unlike how consumers use Google, or a supermarket website. So brands need to adapt, says Vineta Bajaj, CFO for pan-European online grocer Rohlik Group, who previously held financial director roles at Ocado.

“Instead of typing ‘best oat milk’ and scrolling through 10 tabs, people are asking things like ‘what’s a good dairy-free option for coffee?’ and getting a direct answer with a buy button. It’s faster, more conversational, and built to reduce decision fatigue,” she says.

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So visibility online now means “being part of the answer when someone asks an AI what to buy”, Bajaj adds.

But how? Enter generative engine optimisation, also known as LLM-EO (large language model engines optimisation) and, confusingly, CEO (conversational engine optimisation). “It’s not the same as search engine optimisation,” Bajaj adds. “This is about how well a product fits into a conversation.

“Your product descriptions need to sound natural when spoken aloud. You need clear benefits, unique features, and language that’s easy to surface in AI-driven answers. If your listing just says ‘delicious and convenient’ – you’re probably invisible. If it explains that the soup is high in protein, ready in 90 seconds, and a great option for busy parents, that’s something an AI can pull into a helpful answer.”

Thanks to AI chatbots, websites are “no longer the final destination, they’re the data source” Goli explains. So they need to be optimised for human, as well as AI, visitors.

“They need to work harder as the back-end to the brand experience, not just the shop window. If your product content isn’t structured for natural language, if your reviews, descriptions, and data aren’t training the algorithm, you don’t exist on this new shelf.”

Nor can brands readily pay their way into answers. As OpenAI makes clear: “Products are selected by ChatGPT independently and are not ads.”

“They’ll prioritise sources that have not been secured simply by handing over filthy lucre for an ‘endorsement’, or a lame bribe to an influencer,” says Martin Ballantine, MD of fmcg PR agency Piracy Corporation.

OpenAI is currently wanting to partner with retailers and “exploring an easy way for merchants to provide product feeds directly to ChatGPT, helping ensure more accurate, up-to-date listings”, it says.

Some suspect a commercial angle could be coming. Either way, brands overlook ChatGPT – and its fast-following AI rivals – at their peril. According to Similarweb, the ChatGPT website was last month the fifth most visited in the world. A March Adobe Analytics report measured a 500% increase in UK consumer traffic heading to retail sites from AI chatbots over the previous six months.

“This isn’t just a new feature, it’s a seismic shift in how people will shop,” says Chris Camacho, CEO of Cheil UK. “ChatGPT’s move into real-world grocery commerce transforms the way consumers discover, decide and buy. We’re watching the first serious shift in digital behaviour since the smartphone.”