Macy's launches AI shopping assistant on website & app

Macy's has launched an AI shopping assistant, Ask Macy's, on its website and mobile app. The tool was built with Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience.

The assistant was developed in about four weeks after Macy's shifted away from an earlier website agent project that had been under way for nearly six months. A joint team from Macy's and Google Cloud then worked on the system, its integration with existing retail systems and the customer interface.

Ask Macy's is available on Macys.com for desktop and mobile users, as well as in the Macy's app for iPhone and Android. It is designed to help shoppers navigate a catalogue of more than 2.5 million stock-keeping units using conversational prompts rather than standard search results alone.

Macy's said the product first launched in beta to a small share of site users and to thousands of employees. Within a day, it expanded to half of site users, and a week later to all users.

Rapid build

The rapid pace of AI development influenced Macy's decision to switch technologies and shorten its launch timetable. Teams from both companies began daily virtual stand-up meetings and worked together on feature selection and implementation.

Internal testing also helped refine the tone and style of the assistant's responses. The goal was to make interactions feel closer to in-store guidance, where a sales associate might ask follow-up questions before suggesting products.

"We realized we needed to pivot immediately. The pace of change and innovation in AI left no room to stand still, so we adapted," said Chad Westfall, senior vice president of technology product development and customer experience at Macy's.

Westfall said the company also set aside some of its usual processes to move more quickly.

Beyond search

The assistant accepts both text and image inputs. One feature lets shoppers upload a photo and view a virtual try-on of products, with different backgrounds meant to show how an item might look in a range of settings.

The system is intended to support more detailed exchanges than a typical product search. Macy's said users can enter requests that include age, size, preferred fabrics and the type of occasion they are shopping for, with the assistant suggesting outfit ideas and individual items.

In one example provided by the retailer, the assistant responded to a request for office clothing that could also work for dinner by recommending trouser shapes and shirt materials before presenting products across several categories. In another, it suggested layered clothing and flats after learning the shopper was attending a conference in Las Vegas.

The assistant also draws on customer feedback and product catalogue data. Macy's plans to add more sizing guidance, including alerts on whether products run large or small, and product suggestions linked to items already in a customer's basket.

Early results

Ask Macy's is serving thousands of shoppers each day, according to the retailer, with usage increasing as customers become more familiar with the tool. Macy's also reported higher customer engagement during beta testing.

Early beta data showed revenue per visit was about 4.75 times higher among customers who used Ask Macy's than among those who did not, Macy's said. It did not provide broader financial figures or say how long the beta test ran.

The launch reflects a wider push by retailers to use generative AI to reduce friction in online shopping, where customers often face a wide choice of products but less guidance than they would in physical stores. Cart abandonment remains a longstanding challenge across eCommerce, and retailers have been testing search, recommendation and chat-based tools in an effort to keep shoppers engaged.

For Macy's, the project is part of a broader effort to connect digital product discovery more closely with customer support and the in-store shopping model that department stores have traditionally offered. The company presented the assistant as a way to translate some of that service online at scale.

"We wanted to show how technology can remove friction and elevate retail shopping for our customers, to help them feel guided, understood, and confident," Westfall said.

He added that the company is trying to bring "the concept of hospitality" to online customers at scale and that the launch is only a starting point.