Australian retailers such as Wesfarmers, Woolworths and Coles made combined profits of more than $5 billion last financial year. (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)
Some of Australia's largest retailers are investing in autonomous AI agents shopping for customers.
But experts said it was expensive technology years away from being mainstream.
Retailers such as Wesfarmers, Woolworths and Coles made combined profits of more than $5 billion in the 2026 financial year.
AI chatbots are already in use by Australia's biggest retailers, from Buddy at Bunnings to Olive at Woolworths.
But experts say it will be years before these company-built artificial assistants can do more than just chat to shoppers.
In the past 16 months, the rise in grocery prices has outstripped wages growth.
During their full year financial results presentations, all major retailers earmarked "agentic commerce" — letting an AI program shop for you — as a key space to invest in.
"Olive, our much-loved digital shopping assistant, has transformed into a personal shopping companion," Woolworths CEO Amanda Bardwell said.
Coles, which has yet to develop its own AI chatbot, has flagged conversational shopping as an opportunity for further investment.
Australia's major retailers reported a combined profit in the last financial year of more than $5 billion.
Retailers also highlighted the growth in private label and online sales during their financial results presentations.
Some of the largest revenue growth for retailers came from online orders with Coles seeing a 26.4 per cent increase with sales reaching $5.6 billion, representing almost 14 per cent of all sales.
Woolworths saw its online orders grow by 18 per cent, which represented almost $11 billion.
As many as one in three products could be purchased online soon, according to Queensland University of Technology's Gary Mortimer.
