Hungryroot Develops Its Own Smart Cart
Wellness grocer Hungryroot has launched its SmartCart, which the company claims is a first-of-its-kind AI system that transforms the way people eat and live.
Since 2019, Hungryroot has been at the forefront of AI innovation. Its original algorithm, known internally as "box fill logic" (BFL), leveraged an operations research algorithm to automatically fill customers' grocery carts based on their preferences. That system was limited in its ability to dynamically scale and use customer ordering behavior to adjust recommendations over time.
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Its new SmartCart integrates 10 machine learning models that integrate into the company's operations research algorithm, analyzing millions of data points to recommend healthy groceries, recipes and supplements to help consumers live healthier lives.
One of the models predicts the categories of foods consumers want based on recent ordering behavior — three smoothies and four dinner servings, for example. Another model, built using Generative AI and an approach similar to ChatGPT, analyzes recent orders, cross-references data from other users, and applies machine learning to suggest the ideal characteristics of a customer's next order — low sodium, quick-to-prepare meals, or high protein, on-the-go snacks, for example.
Given that the factors that matter most vary by person, there's also a model that applies a weight to each of the other models, guaranteeing that the recommendations are both personalized and designed to optimize customer satisfaction. This flexible, customer-centric approach replaces the rigidity of traditional rule-based systems. Hungryroot has already been granted several patents on the system.
Hungryroot is one of the first companies to build its own models for a specific consumer application. "Most consumer companies are adopting AI developed by others, but at Hungryroot, we're building our own models," said Antoine Atallah, SVP of data science at New York-based Hungryroot. "This gives us a unique advantage and ensures our AI is perfectly attuned to our customers' needs. For example, our sequence predictor system, a key feature of SmartCart, is a generative AI similar to ChatGPT, but with a focused application on consumer wellness. Critically, this model integrates with a number of other models built specifically for the customer pain points we are solving at Hungryroot."
According to the company, customers who use SmartCart order twice as often on Hungryroot as customers who shop on their own. Ninety-percent of SmartCart customers report progress in their health goals since joining the service, and on average, they save three hours each week on meal planning, shopping, and cooking. They also discover three times more food than shopping on their own.
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"SmartCart offers a revolutionary way to eat and live," added Ben McKean, founder and CEO at Hungryroot. "It's like having your own personal assistant for healthy living. It gets to know your goals, lifestyle, and budget, and it relieves the burden of meal planning and shopping for nutritious foods and supplements that help you feel your best."
In addition to providing an enhanced customer experience, SmartCart also offers a number of operational benefits. By considering inventory levels, SmartCart reduces food waste at Hungryroot facilities by 80% compared to traditional grocers.
SmartCart is now available to all Hungryroot customers.
