Instacart is rolling out multiple features it says will make it easier for users to make healthy choices, headlined by its artificial-intelligence-powered Smart Shop.
The tool seeks to make grocery shopping through the platform more "intuitive," according to an announcement from the company, while leveraging AI and machine learning to personalize the experience. Users can select from 14 dietary preference options, including gluten-free, low-calorie or pescatarian, to tailor their shopping.
For example, take an individual looking for foods low in carbohydrates. There are many food options that are naturally low-carb, which can make recommendations difficult. Through the AI tech, Smart Shop is able to filter these options and delineate the difference between items that are deliberately chosen to be low in carbs.
Users can also provide the tool with details on their household, such as whether they're shopping for baby items, which helps the tool recommend items that may fit their dietary and family needs, Instacart said.
Sarah Mastrorocco, vice president and general manager of Instacart Health, said one of the team's key pillars is improving access to healthy food. The new tool builds on that goal by enabling healthier choices and making those decisions simpler for customers.
"We're making it easier than ever to make foods that align with people's specific dietary restrictions, food sensitivities and your health goals," she said.
As people use the tool, the machine learning platform gleans greater insight into their preferences and needs, which allows it to make adjustments on the fly. It can also ask people questions about their preferences to assist in guiding them if they feel unsure.
In addition to the launch of Smart Shop, Instacart is rolling out new Al-driven health tags that highlight certain nutrition characteristics on different food options. The team is initially launching 30 such tags, which mark foods under a range of categories from grass-fed to heart healthy to preservative-free.
The tool uses vision models to extract key data from images and text to identify nutrition claims that the tags can highlight.
Instacart also unveiled Inspiration Pages, which it calls "curated destinations" within its app that include advice from experts and shoppable recipes. The first of these pages was designed in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association and highlights healthy recipes for people with diabetes as well as fresh produce and other priority food options.
The page also includes a description of the "diabetes plate," which recommends that a healthy meal for a diabetic individual be half non-starchy vegetables and one-quarter each of protein and quality carbohydrates.
Mastrorocco said diabetes is a key health challenge for many people and one the team at Instacart can readily play a role in addressing, which made it a logical first step for the Inspiration Pages.
She said they were built to showcase "easy ways that people can feel confident that they're making the right decisions for their family on these storefronts." Instacart believes they have a role to play in healthcare because the can reach a large consumer population with resources like these, she said.
"Really, we believe our seat at the table and why we belong in healthcare is because of our consumer product," she said.