In short:
Some of Australia's largest retailers are investing in autonomous AI agents shopping for customers.
asserted
Some → invest → customers
But experts said it was expensive technology years away from being mainstream.
asserted
it → say → ?
Retailers such as Wesfarmers, Woolworths and Coles made combined profits of more than $5 billion in the 2026 financial year.
asserted
Retailers → make → year
But experts say it will be years before these company-built artificial assistants can do more than just chat to shoppers.
asserted
assistants → say → shoppers
During their full year financial results presentations, all major retailers earmarked "agentic commerce" — letting an AI program shop for you — as a key space to invest in.
asserted
program → earmark → space
"Olive, our much-loved digital shopping assistant, has transformed into a personal shopping companion," Woolworths CEO Amanda Bardwell said.
asserted
Bardwell → love → companion
Coles, which has yet to develop its own AI chatbot, has flagged conversational shopping as an opportunity for further investment.
asserted
which → have → investment
Australia's major retailers reported a combined profit in the last financial year of more than $5 billion.
asserted
retailers → report → billion
"The earnings growth came out of cost, not out of customers spending more,"Retail Customer Advisory's director Trent Rigby said.
asserted
director → come → cost
Retailers also highlighted the growth in private label and online sales during their financial results presentations.
asserted
Retailers → highlight → presentations
One in three purchases to be online, expert says
Some of the largest revenue growth for retailers came from online orders with Coles seeing a 26.4 per cent increase with sales reaching $5.6 billion, representing almost 14 per cent of all sales.
asserted
sales → say → sales
Woolworths saw its online orders grow by 18 per cent, which represented almost $11 billion.
asserted
which → see → billion
As many as one in three products could be purchased online soon, according to Queensland University of Technology's Gary Mortimer.
uncertain
products → purchase → Mortimer
But high transport and logistics costs will curb the profit margins for online sales, he said.
asserted
he → curb → sales
Since 2019, Coles has partnered with e-commerce company Ocado Group for its automated deliveries.
asserted
Coles → partner → deliveries
According to Ocado Group's 2024 annual report, the cost per item picked for its British clients was 52 British pence ($1.06).
uncertain
cost → accord → clients
Professor Mortimer said the growth could see store sizes and ranges shrink with repeat purchases such as toilet paper and cleaning goods delivered to homes.
uncertain
sizes → say → homes
"It is certainly cheaper to fill shelves and have shoppers physically select, scan and take their purchases with them,"he said.
asserted
shoppers → fill → them,"he
US supermarket chain Kroger announced last year it was closing three of its automated warehouses, which was in partnership with Ocado, due to sites not meeting financial expectations.
asserted
sites → announce → expectations
University of Sydney retail expert Lisa Asher said customers could soon bear the additional costs associated with online orders.
uncertain
customers → say → orders
"Groceries will continue to go up if they're going to push forward with this as an option because the price point that you pay online versus in store is the same," she said.
asserted
she → continue → store
AI privacy concerns as retailers move to 'agentic commerce'
asserted
retailers → move → commerce
Ms Asher said regulation was needed to curb "surveillance capitalism", and protect the privacy of shoppers as supermarkets deliberate how to roll out AI in stores and online
"
asserted
supermarkets → say → stores
They are essentially monetising our shopping habits and data points from a customer perspective to make more money from us," she said.
asserted
she → monetise → us
"We are not the product because we are trying to buy food to feed our families with rising cost of living."
asserted
we → try → living
Mr Rigby said it will take at least three years before agentic shopping becomes a standard practice in Australia.
asserted
shopping → say → Australia
"Woolworths is beta testing Smart Basket, which builds a basket from your previous purchases.
asserted
which → test → purchases
[It] still puts a human at the check-out," he said.
asserted
he → put → out
"Nobody here is letting an agent complete a grocery shop unsupervised at any scale."
asserted
agent → let → scale
Mr Rigby has tested 'agentic shopping journeys' across a number of retail categories, and said grocery was the hardest to hand over.
"
asserted
grocery → test → categories
My read is grocery will be one of the last categories to go agentic, not the first,"he said.
asserted
grocery → go → categories
Get one item wrong in a $200 basket and you've lost trust in the whole thing.
asserted
you → get → thing
"When it lands it will be more routine replenishment, not fresh.
asserted
it → land → ?
Not to mention this tech is very expensive to rollout."
asserted
tech → mention → ?
Home-brand growing as retailers become suppliers
Private label, or home branded products represent about 36 per cent of consumer sales across all supermarkets in Australia, and the category is growing according to Mr Rigby.
uncertain
category → become → Rigby
At the major supermarkets, Coles saw a 6.1 per cent lift in private label sales, while Woolworths saw that figure increase by 5.5 per cent in the year to June 30.
asserted
figure → see → June
Mr Rigby said home-branded products have created savings for retailers but the growth was due to the quality gap closing between them and branded products.
asserted
growth → say → them
"It's a rational trade rather than a sacrifice for a household under genuine financial pressure that's the difference between making the week and not," he said.
asserted
he → make → week
Mr Rigby highlighted Kmart's home-brand Anko which expanded to supply overseas retailers from Walmart in the United States, Hudson's Bay in Canada, Flipkart in India and Amazon.
asserted
which → highlight → India
"An Australian discount department store has turned its private label into a product design and sourcing business it sells to retailers overseas,"he said.
asserted
it → turn → retailers
…and 5 more, not listed.