Bunnings unveils major AI shopping move

The hardware giant has launched “Buddy,” a smart buying agent that can photograph handwritten shopping lists, suggest products for complex renovations and connect customers with local tradesmen when a job is too big to handle alone.

Bunnings has teamed up with Google Cloud to become the first Australian retailer – and one of the first in the world – to deploy the tech giant’s advanced Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience solution at scale.

“Our customers come to Bunnings with projects large and small, and Buddy is here to help make the planning and launch of these projects easier,” said Bunnings managing director Mike Schneider.

Designed to act like a helpful Bunnings team member, ‘Buddy’ has the ability to create a photographed, handwritten shopping list and find all the listed products to add to the customer’s basket.

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