Empathy’s philosophy is rooted in the belief that innovation should never be confined to the lab—it must be actively brought into the market. This principle is at the core of Empathy’s Open Innovation approach, which fosters a "building in public" mindset. By working with publicly available data and collaborating openly with retail and tech communities, Empathy explores new possibilities in commerce search, continuously testing and refining solutions in real-world scenarios.

This approach is exemplified in the Healthy Eating with Ocado AI assistant, an experimental demo designed to showcase the potential of AI-enhanced commerce search. Ocado’s extensive product catalog—boasting over 32,000 food products—was chosen specifically for this exploration because of its breadth and accessibility via public API data. While Empathy has no professional relationship with Ocado, the openly available dataset provided a rich foundation to test how advanced language models can transform shopper queries into actionable insights.

Rather than offering off-the-shelf solutions, Empathy collaborates closely with retailers to understand their real business challenges. This customer-centric approach ensures that solutions are not only technologically advanced but also tailored to address the evolving needs of retail brands. By balancing innovative exploration with practical value delivery—exemplified by initiatives such as the Ocado Demo (opens new window) for experimental exploration and the iterative productization process behind Empathy Platform Related Prompts—Empathy is taking significant steps to expand the capabilities of the Empathy Platform. These advancements are key to providing online commerce owners with flexible, state-of-the-art tools that truly serve the retail market.

Healthy Eating with Ocado AI assistant: The first iteration of AI-enhanced commerce search

The Healthy Eating with Ocado AI assistant marks a significant milestone as the first foray into integrating AI with traditional search experiences within the retail space, ensuring AI governance in retail. Developed by Empathy.ai, this demo explores how AI-driven commerce search can help users discover products in more intuitive and meaningful ways. By leveraging advanced language models, the assistant is a shopping guide that interprets shopper queries, offering contextual suggestions and insights that go beyond conventional keyword-based search, helping shops add GenAI Conversational Search, without having to depend on OpenAI.

The Ocado Group is a British technology company specializing in end-to-end online grocery solutions, including automated storage and retrieval systems. While Empathy does not have a formal partnership with Ocado, this demo highlights how publicly available data can serve as a valuable testing ground for reimagining the online shopping experience, especially with actors like Ocado that have such a high-volume catalog. As Empathy continues to push the boundaries of search and e-commerce innovation, these experimental projects help shape the future of digital commerce, providing insights that drive the next generation of retail technology.

At its core, the Healthy Eating with Ocado AI assistant delivers a range of functionalities:

• Personalized nutrition and meal planning:
  Shoppers receive tailored dietary guidance and curated meal plans covering breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Detailed, science-backed explanations—such as the benefits of the Mediterranean diet—ensure that every recommendation is both practical and personalized.

• Dynamic product recommendations:
  For example, when a shopper searches for gluten-free items, the assistant dynamically generates a category-based product carousel, enabling shoppers to directly add products to their cart via an intuitive, mobile-optimized interface.

• Conversational engagement:
  The experience goes beyond static search results. It simulates a natural dialogue with dynamic elements like a typing effect and smooth transitions between product carousels, making the shopping journey engaging and interactive.

A cornerstone of this system is the EmpathyAI Router, a sophisticated service designed to deeply understand shopper intent. It breaks down each query using vector-based matching and a “Chain-of-Thought” mechanism, analyzing context to determine whether the query should be broadened or narrowed for maximum relevance. Based on the interpreted intent, the router dynamically decides the appropriate actions—whether it’s returning an immediate answer, generating detailed product recommendations, or even crafting personalized meal plans. One of the innovative breakthroughs is the dynamic generation of Related Prompts at query time. By generating these elements on the fly rather than relying on pre-indexed data, the system overcomes typical catalog synchronicity issues, leveraging caching and persistence strategies to strike the right balance between freshness and performance. This query-time approach not only addresses technical challenges but also lays the groundwork for a seamless transition from traditional search to fully interactive dialogue.

Enhancing conversational search and the value of differentiated design

Retail search intent mapping has traditionally been a one-dimensional experience, but the rise of conversational AI for e-commerce is heralding a future where search and dialogue co-exist. The Healthy Eating with Ocado AI assistant is designed to address diverse user intents—whether a shopper wants a straightforward product display or an in-depth, conversational interaction that mimics expert advice.

Key improvements include:

• Query-time intent mapping:
  Refining real-time interpretation of shoppers' queries enhances the relevance of responses, resulting in more accurate and engaging product recommendations and nutritional advice.

• User interface enhancements:
  Innovations like the related prompts carousel design allow related prompts to be dynamically displayed and navigated, reducing friction in the user journey. Whether presenting a carousel with an open prompt by default or integrating customer-led choices, every design element is meticulously crafted to boost engagement.

• Integration with real-time recommendations:
  Combining dynamic questions with real-time search data narrows down search intent while opening opportunities for cross-selling and contextual recommendations.

As AI begins to streamline and sometimes commoditize aspects of the design process, the true differentiator remains the human touch—the visionary product designer. While AI can handle personalized search UX optimization tasks, it is the product designer who infuses emotional engagement and strategic insight into the product. This human element ensures that experiences remain memorable and emotionally resonant, setting Empathy’s solutions apart from standardized, "Ikea-like" offerings. Instead, the aim is to achieve a "Vitra-like" level of artisanal design that truly captivates users.

The future is now: Combining traditional search and GenAI for e-commerce search

The launch of the Healthy Eating with Ocado AI assistant is a bold first step in merging traditional search with the capabilities of generative AI. It encapsulates Empathy’s innovative spirit and commitment to providing e-commerce owners with flexible, cutting-edge DeepSeek e-commerce search configuration tools. By embracing an open innovation approach, the platform not only addresses immediate challenges—such as catalogue synchronicity and dynamic query interpretation—but also sets the stage for a future where search becomes an interactive, conversational journey.

In an era where market leadership hinges on the ability to quickly adapt and innovate, the Healthy Eating with Ocado AI assistant stands as a testament to what is possible when technology, design, and strategy converge. For retailers ready to explore new horizons, this is not merely an upgrade—it is a revolutionary step toward creating experiences that are as emotionally engaging as they are technologically advanced. The future is here, redefining how we shop, search, and interact with digital retail platforms.

Try it out

Do you want to see how our first steps towards combining commerce search and AI are coming to life? Try it out in the Healthy Eating with Ocado demo (opens new window)

Learn more

If you still want to know more details about our AI assistant, have a look at our most recent LinkedIn lives: Empathy.ai: Healthy Eating with Ocado (opens new window) and Forked R-1 DeepSeek and Self-Hosted GPUs (opens new window)