The system draws on inventory information from the store a customer selects, allowing its recommendations to reflect products that are currently available. Instacart says its underlying grocery data includes more than 1.6 billion lifetime orders, over 2 billion catalog items and more than 10 million daily inventory signals from nearly 100,000 stores representing more than 2,200 retail banners across North America.
"Every night, millions of families ask the same question: 'What's for dinner?' Not knowing the answer, let alone what to shop for, is one of the most universal human experiences, and a problem Instacart is built to solve," Instacart CEO Chris Rogers said. "We've spent nearly 15 years learning how families shop and eat, and Clementine puts that knowledge to work."
Meal planning is one of Clementine's main functions. It can generate personalized recipes or surface recipes from publishers, then connect those recommendations to products that can be added to a customer's cart. Customers can remove ingredients they already have before purchasing the remaining items.
Preferences can also be saved for future recommendations. Instacart says customers can specify options such as gluten-free, vegetarian, nut-free or organic, and Clementine will incorporate those preferences when suggesting products and meals.
The assistant can also help shoppers manage spending by highlighting promotions, finding relevant deals and suggesting lower-cost alternatives. For repeat purchases, commands such as "shop my usuals" or "restock my pantry staples" use previous Instacart orders to generate a new shopping list.
Clementine can create lists for larger occasions as well. A request for food and supplies for a football watch party, for example, can be converted into a cart that takes household preferences and dietary choices into account.
Another feature allows customers to upload grocery lists instead of typing them into Instacart. A photo of a handwritten list or a screenshot of a digital list can be converted into products that are ready to add to a cart.
Instacart said customers initially tend to use Clementine for simpler jobs such as restocking before moving into tasks such as discovering recipes. Orders created with the assistant contain more products on average than typical Instacart orders and are larger than the company's $115 average basket size.
"Grocery shopping is one of the most routine things people do, and also one of the most personal," said John Adams, Instacart's vice president and head of product. "What we built with Clementine is a system that understands both of those things — not just what you need, but how you eat, what you love, and what's on the shelves at your store right now."
Instacart is also expanding the same underlying shopping technology to grocery retailers through Cart Assistant, its white-label enterprise product. Retailers can integrate the assistant into their own websites and apps while using their own catalogs and customer information.
Cart Assistant can recommend recipes and promotions and create carts without requiring customers to search for individual products. Retailers can customize elements including the assistant's name, tone, loyalty program connections and recipe content.
Food Bazaar, Heritage Grocers Group and Woodman's are already using Cart Assistant. Instacart said ALDI U.S., Harmon's, The Save Mart Companies, Stew Leonard's and additional retailers are expected to follow.
The Clementine launch also extends Instacart's broader push to make grocery ordering available through external AI services. The company has partnerships with Anthropic, OpenAI and Google that allow shopping conversations started through Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or AI Mode in Google Search to continue into Instacart, where customers can place orders for delivery or pickup.
Clementine can be accessed after customers select a retailer in Instacart. Mobile users can open it through the Clementine icon above the search bar, while desktop users can find the assistant in the left-side navigation.
This analysis is based on reporting from Instacart.
Image courtesy of Instacart.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
