Benzinga | Mar 30, 2021 12:22PM EDT

Albertsons Taps Google To 'Reinvent The Future Of Grocery Shopping'

Albertsons Companies Inc (NYSE:ACI) announced Tuesday morning a new partnership with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to "reinvent the future of shopping."

What Happened: Albertsons and Google entered into a new multi-year partnership that leverages Albertsons' 2,253 stores with Google's customer-centric innovation to generate a "formidable nexus of retail savvy and trendsetting technology on a massive, omnichannel scale," Albertsons stated in a press release. The two companies have been working together quietly over the past year and some of the features customers will soon see in stores include:

* Payment options with Google Pay.

* Integrating Google Search and Maps to help shoppers find what they need.

* Predictive grocery list building.

* Artificial intelligence-powered conversational commerce.

* An improved online ordering experience.

Related Link: Albertsons CEO: Changing Consumer Habits Are Positive For Grocer

Why It's Important: The competitive environment in the grocery segment continues to intensify and companies are scrambling to find ways to differentiate themselves. In Albertsons' case, the company hopes that a partner in Google will help it evolve into a "modern retailer fit for the future."

What's Next: It is difficult to predict the future of eating habits because so much has changed over the past year.

"We don't know exactly what the future will look like, but we know that some things will be forever changed," Google said in a blog post. "While many of us will happily let restaurants cook our seafood again, there are things that all of us will take forward from this time. Albertsons Cos. and Google are making sure that easy grocery shopping will be one of them."

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