What happens when shoppers no longer do the shopping?

27 October 2026

How AI will make Australian grocery shopping less human touch, more human-centric

For more than 70 years, the basic bargain of grocery shopping has barely changed: shoppers decide what they need, choose where to buy it and make hundreds of small decisions before reaching the checkout. 

Today, almost all Australians shop at one of the major supermarket chains. Yet advances in artificial intelligence invite us to imagine a different model – one where shoppers describe what they need and their AI agent builds the grocery list, compares retailers and buys on their behalf. 

This research, commissioned by Richard Rome, Associate Partner, Consumer Industry, Ernst & Young, Australia, and conducted in collaboration with the Australian Food and Grocery Council, explores Australians’ willingness to embrace this emerging concept of AI-assisted grocery shopping. 

Although autonomous capabilities are still developing, it is increasingly feasible to envisage shoppers telling their AI agent what they need and value, rather than what to buy. An agent would translate a shopper’s priorities and preferences, interpret product information, plan meals, replenish household essentials and purchase from multiple retailers to optimise value and convenience. 

This research surfaces questions we have not attempted to answer here: how trust and permission may change with experience of AI agents; how shoppers might trade control for time or savings; and how those choices may vary across needs, products and purchasing occasions. 

Uncertainty is precisely what gives grocery retailers and suppliers food for thought. The more AI fills the basket, the less grocery shopping will rely on the human touch, and businesses need to understand who the basket is for. 

Lisa Nijssen-Smith 

EY Regional Consumer Products & Retail Leader, Oceania 

Andrew Clark 

Director of Retail, Australian Food and Grocery Council