The news: Home Depot expanded its Magic Apron AI assistant into over 2,000 US stores, offering shoppers information about inventory and item locations tailored to their individual store, as well as project advice and recommendations on the best products to purchase for specific tasks.

• Magic Apron is designed to complement the expertise and assistance of its employees and give customers another way to get guidance and support while in-store, the company said in a blog post.
• The assistant—which can be accessed through the Home Depot app or by scanning an in-store QR code—supports text and voice-to-text queries, multilingual conversations, and image uploads.

Considering Home Depot’s US retail ecommerce sales make up a small portion of its overall US retail sales, per our forecast, Magic Apron can expand the utility of its app beyond online sales.

What it means: AI tools like Magic Apron function as personal shopping assistants, which could help consumers more quickly evaluate their options and make purchasing decisions. Sixty-two percent of global consumers want personalized in-store experiences and 58% don’t mind when AI is used by retailers as long as they receive a personalized experience, per SOTI.

Retailers have digitized physical store information and experiences through apps, loyalty programs, QR codes, and retail media. AI can thread those pieces together through a conversational layer that understands user intent, best options, what’s available, and where to find products.

Why it matters: AI is getting closer to the moment of transaction.

• Tools like ChatGPT and Gemini can influence consumer consideration before they ever visit a retailer.
• In-store assistants can then take action and make recommendations when shoppers are physically near a product.

However, there is a trust barrier—1 in 3 US adults won’t use an AI shopping assistant because they’re worried it will try to sell them things they don’t need, per YouGov.

Recommendations for retailers: As AI assistants start to mediate more high-intent product discovery moments, retailers will need to assess whether recommendations remain organic or become monetizable inventory over time.

• Focus on AI experiences that are additive and improve in-store shopping, rather than ones that are entirely devoted to increasing purchase volume.
• Deliver meaningful personalization by offering recommendations built on users’ shopping history and project goals, but offer consumers an opt-out on data usage to build trust.