Executive Summary

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• Supermarkets or Super Platforms ? Grocers have the potential to become the next tech giants by accelerating their digitization and embracing AI, but only if they move beyond superficial Proof of Concepts (POCs) and accelerate their platformization (making it possible for AI agent to perform orders on the grocers’ e-commerce platforms)
• The key challenge is not AI shopping assistants tests, but AI agent compatibility, requiring a fundamental shift in IT infrastructure
• Grocers must build robust API ecosystems to allow AI agents to interact seamlessly with their platforms—otherwise AI agents and customers will go for the other connected/interoperable grocers
• CEOs and CTOs must recognize that disconnected IT systems not only hinder internal agility but will soon isolate them from the AI revolution entirely.
• Partners like Instacart and Jow have already paved the way, demonstrating how leveraging external tech ecosystems can unlock innovation at scale, and are now the biggest supermarkets API platforms.

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Grocers have a unique opportunity to become the next tech giants by leveraging AI—but only if they move beyond superficial proof-of-concepts (POCs) and urgently accelerate their platformization.

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Their partnerships with companies like Instacart and Jow can be a catalyst for this transformation.

AI is on the verge of revolutionizing everything. However, as the Gartner Hype Cycle reminds us, technological innovations take time to reach their full potential. AI will be no exception—though its adoption may be faster than previous disruptions.
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Despite understanding this cycle, many grocers rush into AI assistant POCs, driven more by FOMO or investor expectations than by a long-term strategic vision. Few are actively preparing their IT infrastructure to be AI-ready, which is the real foundational work required to unlock AI’s full potential in the mid-term.

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The Real Challenge: AI Agent Readiness, Not AI Assistants

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Grocers often believe that developing their own AI-powered shopping assistant is the right move. In reality, this distracts from the real challenge: making their e-commerce platforms interoperable with AI agents.

For years, grocers have kept their IT systems closed and proprietary, resisting the API-driven platform economy that transformed other industries. Some retailers, like Walmart, have embraced this shift by developing platforms like Walmart.io, but they remain the exception rather than the rule. Most grocers still operate within closed ecosystems, building expensive, short-lived internal solutions rather than integrating with tech partners through direct API connections.
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This results in a predictable cycle of innovation fads:

• 10 years ago: Chatbots
• 5 years ago: Voice shopping solutions
• Today: AI shopping assistants

The current grocers’ investments in AI shopping POCs will ultimately fail if they do not quickly move to the next step: creating an open, API-first IT infrastructure to enable AI agents.

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The Solution: Platformization & AI-Ready APIs

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Rather than focusing on AI assistant POCs, grocers must build robust API ecosystems that allow AI agents to seamlessly interact with their platforms. If AI agents are set to assist consumers with daily tasks, grocery shopping will be one of the first major use cases.

This presents a unique challenge for grocers because grocery shopping requires far more complex interactions than traditional e-commerce, which AI agents cannot perform without the right set of connectors:

• Logging into accounts
• Browsing extensive product catalogs
• Adding 20-30 items to a cart
• Booking delivery slots
• Entering addresses
• Processing payments
• etc…

For AI agents to handle these tasks, grocers must provide structured, comprehensive APIs—ideally through a dedicated middleware layer. Grocers CEOs and CTOs must recognize that disconnected IT systems not only hinder internal agility but will soon isolate them from the AI revolution entirely.

If grocers fail to act, AI agents will simply redirect consumers to competitors that provide these capabilities.

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Why strategic partners like Jow or Instacart are a solution

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If a grocer does not have its own API ecosystem like Walmart or Kroger, it can partner with companies like Instacart and Jow that have already solved these challenges by integrating deeply with grocers' existing infrastructures.
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• Instacart initially built e-commerce solutions for grocers, layering a personal shopper and delivery model on top. Over time, it evolved into a full-fledged grocery technology platform, now deeply integrated with partner retailers.
• Jow took a different approach in France and in the US, reinventing grocery shopping through meal planning rather than delivery. Since grocers lacked the necessary APIs, Jow built day one an extensive, normalized integration layer across multiple retailers—effectively becoming a supermarket API hub.
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IT is highly unlikely that a grocer can start today, developping from scratch the mandatory set of API fast enough not to miss the AI train running at an incredible speed, but the good news is that they can levarage these tech partners which have an extensive knowledge of building e-grocery tech platforms grocers and can accelerate their digital transformation fast and without incurring massive IT costs.

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The Path Forward: Become Tech Giants, Not AI Bystanders

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Grocers hold one of the most critical budgets in Western households—food, they process billions of transactions and data points, in a fundamental industry that Big Tech has not yet fully disrupted, it is the perfect equation and position to create new tech giants.

However, their digital transformation has lagged behind. If they embrace open APIs and tech partnerships, they can become the next generation of tech giants, faster and at a cheaper cost. If they don’t, they risk being left behind as AI-driven commerce and or tech giants like amazon takes over.
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While the long-term impact of AI agents on grocery shopping is still evolving, grocers don’t need to anticipate every possible API today. Instead, they should prioritize critical APIs that drive immediate value, such as seamless transactions (cart, checkout, payments), real-time inventory data, and account management and/or leverage their existing partners. This approach not only prepares them for AI integration but also enhances connectivity with future startups or partners in the tech ecosystems, and will also be useful internally to help proprietary siloed systems speak to each others reducing fragmentation across grocers’ own systems and improving operational agility.

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