FRANCE | Carrefour has expanded its artificial intelligence shopping assistant, Hopla, adding nutritional advice, shopping basket analysis, and voice commands to help customers make healthier food choices.
The new features are available through Carrefour's website and app and form part of the retailer's commitment to generate 50 percent of food sales from products contributing to a more balanced diet by 2030.
When customers search for products, Hopla can suggest alternatives based on dietary preferences, including lower-sugar, gluten-free, lactose-free, plant-based, and protein-enriched options. Someone looking for breakfast cereals, for example, may be prompted to consider products with less sugar.
Customers can also ask Hopla to review their completed shopping basket and suggest changes to improve its nutritional balance. The assistant can recommend recipes using products already selected, potentially helping shoppers plan meals and make better use of their purchases.
A new image recognition feature allows customers to upload a photograph of a meal. Hopla estimates its nutritional composition and recommends ingredients that could make it more balanced.
Carrefour has also brought its Eat Better Alternatives function, introduced in 2024, into Hopla. This allows shoppers to compare products with better Nutri-Score ratings or organic certification.
Previously available only through written questions, Hopla now supports voice commands, giving customers another way to interact with the assistant while shopping.
The latest developments build on Carrefour's existing use of AI to assist customers with meal planning and grocery selection.
For supermarkets, the commercial opportunity extends beyond helping customers find products. Recommendations made during the shopping process could influence what goes into the basket, particularly when alternatives are presented alongside products customers already intend to buy.
Carrefour has not released figures showing whether the new features have changed purchasing behaviour or increased sales. Their introduction does, however, put nutritional recommendations directly into the online shopping journey, where customers are making their purchasing decisions.
Read more here.
