From Kroger to McDonald’s: How Top Retailers Are Building Custom AI Agents with Google
The retail industry is quietly going through one of its biggest changes in decades. Not because of new stores or faster delivery, but because of how customers now talk to businesses.
For years, retail AI meant chatbots that could answer basic questions and search bars that forced customers to guess the right keywords. That phase is ending. What’s replacing it is something more human.
We are entering the era of agentic retail—where AI doesn’t just respond, but understands, reasons, and actively helps customers solve problems.
At the centre of this shift is Google’s Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, a platform that allows retailers to build their own custom AI agents. Not generic assistants. Not one-size-fits-all bots. But brand-specific digital employees trained on a company’s own data.
And this isn’t theoretical. Some of the biggest names in retail are already using it.
What Retail Has Been Missing All Along
If you think about the best in-store experiences, it usually comes down to one thing: a good sales associate.
You walk into a store with a vague idea—“I need something quick for dinner” or “I want to bake a cake but it has to be gluten-free.” A human employee doesn’t just point you to an aisle. They ask follow-up questions. They make suggestions. They help you decide.
Online shopping never really cracked this. Search bars don’t ask questions. Filters don’t understand intent. Customers are left scrolling, comparing, and second-guessing.
This is the gap agentic retail is trying to fill.
Kroger’s AI Shopper: A Digital Employee in Your Pocket
Kroger is one of the clearest examples of what this looks like in practice.
Using Google’s Gemini platform, Kroger is building a shopping agent directly inside its mobile app. Instead of typing keywords like “cake mix” or “gluten free,” customers can ask real questions, the same way they would in a store.
For example, a shopper might say:
“I need ingredients for a gluten-free birthday cake for six people.”
The AI doesn’t just list products. It understands the goal. It can suggest the right flour, recommend frosting options, check availability at the nearest store, and even help build a shopping list.
This matters because grocery shopping isn’t about finding one item. It’s about planning meals, managing dietary needs, and saving time. Kroger’s AI agent acts less like a search engine and more like an experienced store associate who knows your preferences and your constraints.
Beyond Shopping: How Retail Giants Are Using AI to Fix Operations
Kroger’s use case focuses on discovery and decision-making, but other retailers are applying the same technology in different parts of the customer journey.
The Home Depot is using Gemini-powered agents to help customers navigate complex DIY projects. Instead of jumping between product pages, manuals, and support articles, customers can describe what they’re trying to fix. The AI helps identify the right parts, tools, and steps—reducing confusion and abandoned purchases.
McDonald’s, on the other hand, is applying these agents to customer service and operational efficiency. In a business that operates at massive scale, even small improvements matter. AI agents can help handle service questions, reduce friction in ordering, and support consistency across locations.
In all these cases, the goal is the same. Replace fragmented systems with a single AI layer that understands context and intent.
Why Google’s Gemini Enterprise Is the Enabler
What makes Gemini Enterprise different from earlier retail AI tools is how customizable it is.
Retailers aren’t just plugging in a chatbot. They are building agents that reflect their brand, their product catalogue, and their operational rules.
The platform supports several types of agents:
- Shopping assistants that guide customers from question to purchase
- Customer support agents that handle complex, multi-step issues
- Internal merchandising tools that help teams manage inventory and product presentation
Because these agents are trained on a company’s own data, they don’t feel generic. A Kroger assistant sounds different from a McDonald’s assistant because they are built for entirely different problems.
This is why large enterprises are paying attention. AI stops being a feature and starts becoming part of the core retail infrastructure.
What This Signals for the Future of Retail
When grocery chains, home improvement stores, and fast-food giants all adopt the same underlying AI approach, it points to something bigger.
Retail is no longer competing on who has the best website or the fastest checkout. It’s competing on who can understand customers better in real time.
Agentic retail turns AI into a digital employee—one that never gets tired, never forgets product details, and can serve millions of customers at once.
For shoppers, this means fewer searches and faster decisions.
For retailers, it means higher conversion, better service, and lower support costs.
The agentic era isn’t coming. It’s already live.
And the retailers who build intelligent experiences now will quietly pull ahead, while others are still optimizing search bars.
See you in our next article!
If this article helped you to understand the change in the retail industry caused by AI, have a look at our recent stories on Vibe Coding, How to spot Deepfake, The Bedroom Director, GPT Store, Apple AI, and Lovable 2.0. Share this with a friend who’s curious about where AI and the tech industry are heading next.
Until next brew ☕
