Mars Prepares For AI-Driven Grocery Shopping
Mars is adapting to a future where AI handles grocery shopping, focusing on discoverability and experiential retail. The company aims to ensure its brands shine in agentic commerce.
Original reporting · digiday.com
Original: “Mars wants to future proof impulse buys as AI is poised to take over more grocery runs”
Read “Mars wants to future proof impulse buys as AI is poised to take over more grocery runs” at Digiday →
How this was written. GMS Agency Desk wrote this article with a language model from Digiday’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from Digiday’s report
- Mars is preparing for a future where AI handles more grocery runs, which may change the way people buy impulse snacks.
- The company is building capabilities to make its brands discoverable by large language models (LLMs) and to ensure they convert to purchases.
- Mars is partnering with retailers to create experiential, immersive retail destinations and to build different cultural environments.
Mars, the conglomerate behind snack brands like Dove chocolate and M&Ms, is preparing for a future where AI takes over more grocery runs. According to Digiday, the company is hedging its bets against an agentic future, where AI shopping assistants make purchasing decisions.
The rise of AI in grocery shopping may change the way people buy impulse snacks, a key area of business for Mars. Neil Reynolds, global chief customer officer at Mars, expects AI to handle more weekly grocery runs, but doesn't think it will kill the in-store checkout lane.
Mars has partnered with Kantar and Synthesis to research the future of shopping and retail, and the results show that agentic technology will handle grocery shopping, while physical stores and digital platforms become places for discovery and entertainment. This shift may require Mars to adapt its commerce plans.
The company is building capabilities to make its brands discoverable by large language models (LLMs) and to ensure they convert to purchases. Mars is also working to create experiential, immersive retail destinations and partnering with retailers to build different cultural environments.
Mars is taking steps to prepare for the shift, including gathering data on how its categories and brands show up in LLMs. The company is setting up 'One Demand performance squads' to connect teams and improve collaboration. Last summer, Mars hired Publicis to lead its connected commerce capabilities, which will support the company in building effortless, personalized, and experiential shopper experiences.
Mars is rethinking its relationship with retailers, recognizing that it needs to bring more people to the conversation, including tech-to-tech conversations. The company is having ongoing conversations with leading retailers about 'store of the future initiatives' and how to create more immersive shopping experiences.
The future of impulse purchases is uncertain, but Mars is working to ensure its brands remain relevant in an agentic landscape. By focusing on discoverability, experiential retail, and collaboration with retailers, the company aims to stay ahead of the curve.
Questions and answers
What is Mars doing to prepare for the shift to AI-driven grocery shopping?
Mars is building capabilities to make its brands discoverable by large language models (LLMs) and to ensure they convert to purchases, and is partnering with retailers to create experiential retail destinations.
How is Mars rethinking its relationship with retailers?
Mars is recognizing that it needs to bring more people to the conversation, including tech-to-tech conversations, and is having ongoing conversations with leading retailers about 'store of the future initiatives'.
What is the goal of Mars' partnership with Publicis?
The goal is to support Mars in building effortless, personalized, and experiential shopper experiences through connected commerce capabilities.
