Online grocery retailer Knuspr can now be used for more than just app or website orders – shopping is now also possible directly inside a chat with ChatGPT. Searching for products, planning recipes, putting together a weekly shop: that's the promise of the new integration. We wanted to find out whether it holds up in everyday use, so we placed an order ourselves.
We had no major shopping plans – just wanted to see how the new feature performs. Roughly on our list: bread for breakfast, something for dinner, and a bit of fruit and vegetables.
AI shopping: access and setup
Before the first order comes the connection: anyone who wants to use Knuspr through ChatGPT links the app to their Knuspr account via the relevant connector. Login works either by email and password or through Google or Apple. First hurdle for the curious: without an existing Knuspr account, there's no way in – according to a note on the login screen, a first order has to be placed directly with Knuspr before an account is created that can then be linked to ChatGPT. With an existing account, though, it's quick and simple.
The shop: fruit first
After the greeting ("Good to see you"), ChatGPT proactively suggested fruit first – understandable, since practically every household needs it. On a simple request, the AI displayed a tile selection: bananas, grapes, nectarines, kiwi, complete with prices and quantities ready to tap. The chosen item landed in our cart with one click on the plus icon.
Breakfast: our first pushback, the first limits
Next came breakfast – and here we had to steer things back on track. On our general request for breakfast items, ChatGPT first suggested cereal: corn flakes, oats, various Kellogg's varieties. Our reply, "I don't like cereal," was processed immediately, and the AI pivoted to a classic breakfast instead: bread, spreads, eggs. That worked, but it stayed on the level of "swap one category for another" – no follow-up question about sweet versus savory, quantities needed, or other preferences.
Dinner: the sticking point
When we asked for something vegetarian involving gnocchi, the AI showed a range of vegetarian and vegan gnocchi options along with suggestions for suitable ingredients like cherry tomatoes, spinach, or parmesan. After settling on tomato-and-mozzarella gnocchi, we specifically asked for a matching cream sauce with vegetables. ChatGPT delivered a product selection under the heading "cream vegetables" – without first asking which vegetables we actually like or whether we have any intolerances.
We pushed back on that, and the AI's answer was remarkably candid: it admitted it hadn't made a selection tailored to us at all, but had simply run the search term "vegetables" against the Knuspr shop and displayed the top results. Only afterward did it explain which questions would have made sense:
- Which vegetables do you like – and which don't you?
- Do you have any allergies or intolerances?
- Should it be quick, or can it be more elaborate?
- Do you have any dietary preferences, e.g. vegan or low-calorie?
At this point, the AI isn't behaving like an advisory service – it's behaving like a search box with a chat interface bolted on.
The switch to checkout
Moving from ChatGPT to Knuspr brings an expected break: the AI can't trigger payment itself. The cart on Knuspr's side displayed everything correctly, and completing the order was – despite the switch into the app – straightforward.
How did the new shopping experience feel?
The whole shop took noticeably longer than it would have via the app or website. Partly, of course, because we were using the feature for the first time and didn't quite know what to expect. Partly because you have to spell out what you want in language, step by step, rather than just clicking through.
- ➕ Fast for everyday staples (fruit, bread)
- ➕ Responds to explicit feedback ("no cereal")
- ➖ Doesn't proactively ask about preferences or intolerances
- ➖ Feels like a keyword search, not advice
- ➖ Checkout still has to happen in the app
In the app or on the website, by contrast, you scan the offers yourself, filter directly, and make choices visually and all at once – a structural advantage a chat interface has yet to catch up on. And for checkout, you have to go to Knuspr anyway. It's a nice gimmick that certainly hints at where things might be headed, but it's not yet a real shortcut for everyday shopping. Anyone who enjoys a back-and-forth while shopping and doesn't mind taking a bit of time in conversation to land on a recipe or an idea is well served by the chat. The underlying idea – meet customers where they already are – still holds true. Right now, online, that increasingly means AI chatbots like ChatGPT.
