Is AI Already in Your Grocery Cart? What Shoppers Are Really Doing with GenAI

AI isn't just a buzzword. It's showing up in America's kitchens and grocery aisles. Here's what the data really says about how shoppers are using generative AI tools right now.

How familiar are shoppers with GenAI grocery tools?

Most consumers are at least somewhat familiar with GenAI grocery tools. Across critical US consumer segments, familiarity with GenAI grocery tools has reached mainstream levels. More importantly, among those consumers that retailers and manufacturers need to grow in the coming years are much more familiar. Latino consumers are significantly more likely to indicate familiarity, as do younger consumers, households with kids, and higher income households.

74% of Gen Pop consumers familiar with GenAI grocery tools

83% of Latino consumers familiar with GenAI tools

79% of Black/AA consumers familiar with GenAI grocery tools

Who is actually using GenAI for groceries?

Nearly 4 in 10 general population consumers (41%) have already used a GenAI tool for grocery shopping or meal preparation. Among Latino consumers, that number jumps to 49%, a statistically significant difference. Looking at consumers under 45, 59% of consumers state they use AI tools in their shopping journey, and that number jumps to 65% among households with kids. Considering we are still relatively early in the AI adoption curve, this suggests that brands and retailers need to be more proactive in how they show up with agentic-search functionality.

What are shoppers using GenAI for?

Regardless of who they are, consumers are using GenAI for similar reasons. Recipe generation leads by a wide margin. The top use cases reveal a clear pattern: consumers want help with inspiration and planning, not just transactional tasks. More importantly, they are using these tools for multiple reasons, not just one. GenAI has empowered to multitask more effectively. As consumers look for ways to optimize their grocery budget in an increasingly inflationary environment, retailers and brands should expect to see consumers increase their usage of GenAi tools to save money on groceries both through deal seeking behavior but also by utilizing ingredients already in-home to make that spend go further.

Use Case	% of Gen Pop Consumers
Get meal or recipe ideas	63%
Get healthier meal ideas	47%
Create a grocery shopping list	46%
Plan meals for the week	39%
Find ways to save money on groceries	36%
Learn new cooking techniques	36%

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What does this mean for your business?

Generative AI is no longer an experiment in the grocery journey—it’s becoming a new “front door” to meal planning and basket building. With mainstream familiarity and meaningful usage already established (and Latino consumers leading adoption), retailers and brands should treat GenAI as an emerging demand signal, not a marketing channel. The winners will be the ones who operationalize for the planning moment—where preferences form, substitutions get decided, and baskets take shape.

• Win discoverability in agentic search: audit the language consumers use, strengthen product metadata, and ensure your assortment shows up in AI-driven planning and recommendations.

• Connect inspiration to commerce: make recipes, meal plans, and prompts instantly shoppable with smart lists, substitutions, and budget-friendly swaps.

• Build trust by design: prioritize accuracy, transparency, and culturally relevant guidance, especially for high-adoption audiences like Latino families.

• Measure what’s changing: track how AI influences consideration, trade-offs, and loyalty so you can invest where it’s actually moving share of basket.

Want to pressure-test your GenAI strategy with diverse consumer segments before you build? PDG Insights can help you quantify who’s using these tools, how they’re shaping decisions, and where your brand or banner has the biggest opportunity to show up earlier in the journey.