Supermarket giant Albertsons’ new digital hub will take — or make — the cake when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) for baked goods and party planning.
Albertsons — which also operates its namesake stores, as well as Safeway, ACME, Shaw’s, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Vons and Tom Thumb — announced the launch of Celebrations, an AI-assisted portal on its website to help customers with event planning. In a press release, Albertsons said its goal is to enhance customer experience with convenience and personalization.
Albertsons is No. 18 in the Top 2000, Digital Commerce 360’s database ranking of North America’s leading retailers by annual online sales.
Why Albertsons created its new Celebrations hub
Albertsons Celebrations Valentine’s Day examples | Image credit: Albertsons press release
“At Albertsons Cos., we’re committed to making it easier for customers to bring the joy of food to every occasion,” said Jill Pavlovich, senior vice president of digital customer experience at Albertsons Cos. “Celebrations puts essentials in one place, making planning and shopping more convenient, more personal and delightfully effortless for millions of shoppers.”
Among some of the experiences customers can choose from are:
- Custom cakes
- Occasion and theme shopping
- Party supplies and décor
- Catering
- AI-powered event planning
In the case of event planning, Albertsons’ AI shopping assistant can be used to choose themes or browse curated product ideas. The assistant personalizes recommendations based on the information a user gives it.
New use cases for AI at Albertsons
The release of Celebrations comes on the heels of what is already shaping up to be a year of AI transformation for Albertsons. The recently launched “Ask AI” search tool has produced a 10% increase in digital cart sizes among consumers using it. That resulted in what CEO Susan Morris called a “meaningful revenue upside as adoption scales.” In its fiscal Q3 2025, Albertsons digital sales shot up 21% year over year. That was nearly 10 times more than identical sales, which grew by a more modest 2.4%.
Norman Rice, chief commercial officer at Extreme Networks, which works with retailers on building frictionless AI and Wi-Fi experiences, said this is just the beginning.
“AI’s implementation in grocery stores is set to redefine the experience for customers — pioneering new shopping experiences and supporting the mission of our grocery partners to enhance consumer engagement,” Rice stated.
He added that for supermarkets to deliver high levels of engagement, it is key to have a network that is fast, secure and resilient.
His company, Extreme, has worked with Albertsons competitor Kroger and other retailers to power its Wi-Fi and analytics.
What Albertsons’ decisions show about the future of AI in the grocery industry
Albertsons Celebrations baby shower examples | Image credit: Albertsons press release
Rich Pleeth, CEO and co-founder of the AI logistics company Finmile, assessed that Albertsons’ move shows where AI in grocery is heading.
“It is less about fancy tech behind the scenes and more about making hard moments easier for customers,” Pleeth said.
He noted that planning a celebration is stressful. That means Albertsons may have an opportunity if Celebrations can help to reduce friction and make processes easier.
“AI helps pull cakes, florals, catering and timing into one simple flow instead of sending shoppers all over the store,” Pleeth said.
He added that for Albertsons, all of that amounts to more sales.
“The benefit is clear,” he stated. “Bigger baskets, less pressure on staff, and more reliable execution in high-margin but messy categories.”
Pleeth sees AI in this case turning customer intent into orders that stores can actually fulfill on time.
“This is part of a bigger shift,” he explained. “Grocery is moving from selling items to selling occasions. The retailers that win will be the ones who can actually deliver on what their AI promises, not just design a good interface.”
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