Cart-Level Personalization Remains Underdeveloped in Grocery

Quick Analysis:

Nearly half of retailers now integrate personalized suggestions within the cart, but the remaining 56% miss one of the most influential conversion moments. Cart-level personalization drives high-intent actions, nudging shoppers to add forgotten items, replenish staples, or discover relevant alternatives. Despite its impact, many retailers still prioritize homepage or search personalization while overlooking the final stage of decision-making.

What It Means for Grocers:

A non-personalized cart limits average basket size and weakens the retailer’s ability to influence final purchase behavior. Without contextual prompts, shoppers are more likely to forget planned items, skip complementary products, or miss value-driven bundles. This gap directly affects revenue, repeat purchase behavior, and customer satisfaction, especially for weekly or mission-driven grocery trips.

The Way Ahead:

• Leverage past purchase frequency: Highlight replenishable items (milk, bread, snacks) before checkout to reduce missed items.
• Use complementary product intelligence: Recommend items frequently purchased together (e.g., pasta → sauce, cereal → milk).
• Surface personalized deals in-cart: Dynamic promotions relevant to the shopper’s cart or shopping history increase immediate value perception.‍
• Adopt real-time predictive scoring: AI models analyze basket composition to recommend the most relevant add-ons, increasing basket value efficiently.‍
• Make it mobile-first: Many cart interactions happen on mobile—optimize prompts, spacing, and relevance for smaller screens.

So What:

Cart personalization offers one of the fastest paths to measurable revenue uplift, influencing decisions when shoppers are most ready to act.