Sainsbury's has launched a new AI-powered feature called SmartLists in its mobile app, available from Wednesday, October 7. The tool lets customers create shopping lists instantly by typing prompts such as "ingredients for shepherd's pie" or by taking a photo of a handwritten list, which is then matched to Sainsbury's products.
How SmartLists Works
Shoppers can use the feature in three ways: typing a prompt, speaking a list, or photographing an existing written list. The app then converts the input into a shopping list and matches items to Sainsbury's products. Ben Edge, director of product at Sainsbury's, said: "We know our customers are busy and want shopping to feel simple, joyful and easy to fit around their lives."
Edge added: "SmartLists is designed to take the effort out of creating and buying a shopping list, whether customers are typing, speaking or taking a picture of what they need. Alongside this, by bringing more of our services together in one app, we're making it easier for customers to plan their shop, build their basket and find products in store, however and whenever they choose to shop with us."
Early User Feedback Highlights Improvements
Nida Naseem, who tested the feature, shared feedback on LinkedIn. She praised the voice option, noting it "worked well," but identified several areas for improvement. Her suggestions included making voice input a single step—press, speak, release, and done—rather than requiring an extra tap after releasing the microphone.
She also noted that pressing the mic without speaking triggered an "upload limit" error, forcing a 45-second wait, and recommended that new experiences be more forgiving. Naseem suggested making the entire product card clickable instead of requiring users to tap the "Select" button, and adding a simple on/off widget for substitutions rather than adjusting them product by product.
Impact on Shopping Experience
The launch is part of Sainsbury's broader effort to integrate more services into its app, aiming to simplify the shopping journey from planning to in-store navigation. While the core feature is operational, user feedback like Naseem's points to refinements that could make the AI tool feel more natural and effortless, potentially influencing future updates.
