If you’re someone who dreads the tedious process of adding items one by one to your online grocery cart, Uber Eats’ new Cart Assistant might just become your favorite shopping companion. This AI-powered beta feature is designed to transform how you shop for groceries by doing the heavy lifting for you.
What Is Cart Assistant?
Cart Assistant is Uber Eats’ latest innovation in grocery delivery—an AI tool that builds your shopping cart automatically from simple text prompts or photos. Instead of manually searching for each item, you can type “milk, eggs, cereal” or snap a picture of your handwritten grocery list, and the AI does the rest. Think of it as having a personal shopper who knows your preferences and can check prices and availability in real-time.
How It Actually Works
The process is refreshingly straightforward. Once you’ve selected a supported grocery store in the Uber Eats app, look for a purple Cart Assistant icon. Tap it, then either type what you need or upload a photo of your list (even recipe screenshots work). The AI scans your input, matches items to what’s actually in stock at your chosen store, applies current prices and promotions, and prioritizes brands you’ve bought before.
What makes this genuinely useful is the personalization. If you always buy organic milk or a specific pasta brand, Cart Assistant remembers and adds those exact items. Before checkout, you can review the auto-generated cart and make adjustments—swap items, delete things you don’t need, or add extras.
Who Should Use This
Cart Assistant is perfect for busy professionals, parents managing weekly meal prep, or anyone who finds online grocery shopping frustratingly slow. If you’re ordering the same staples regularly, this tool learns your patterns and speeds up repeat purchases significantly. It’s also ideal for people who prefer handwritten lists but want the convenience of delivery—just photograph your note and let the AI translate it.
The feature particularly shines when you’re shopping from a recipe. Instead of manually searching for each ingredient, upload a screenshot of the recipe and let Cart Assistant find everything you need.
Making the Most of It
To get the best results, be specific in your text prompts. Instead of just “bread,” try “whole wheat sandwich bread” if you have a preference. The more you use Cart Assistant, the better it gets at predicting what you want, so give it a few tries to learn your habits.
Always review your cart before checkout. Since this is still a beta tool, it might occasionally select the wrong size or miss your preferred brand. Think of the AI-generated cart as a strong first draft that you fine-tune rather than a final order.
Take advantage of the real-time data integration. Cart Assistant checks current stock levels and promotions, so you’re not wasting time adding items that are out of stock or missing deals that could save you money.
Know the Limitations
As a beta feature, Cart Assistant has some growing pains. It’s currently iOS-only in select US markets, with Android support coming later. The tool doesn’t always make perfect selections, particularly with niche items or specific package sizes, so that pre-checkout review is essential.
Right now, meal planning features aren’t included, though future updates may add this. The feature also requires working with supported stores—currently including Safeway, Albertsons, Kroger, Aldi, CVS, Sprouts, Walgreens, and Wegmans, among others.
Cart Assistant represents a genuine improvement in online grocery shopping efficiency. While it’s not perfect, it eliminates the most tedious part of the process: manually searching and adding each item. For regular grocery shoppers who order similar items weekly, the time savings add up quickly.
The personalization based on order history is where this tool truly delivers value. Instead of a generic AI that treats everyone the same, Cart Assistant adapts to your specific preferences, making each subsequent order faster and more accurate.
Is it worth trying? Absolutely, if you’re in a supported market with an iOS device. Even with its beta limitations, the convenience of building a cart from a quick text list or photo far outweighs the minor effort of reviewing and adjusting the results. As Uber continues refining the AI and expanding store partnerships, this feature will likely become indispensable for anyone who regularly orders groceries online.
For now, approach it as a powerful assistant that handles the grunt work while you maintain final control—exactly what good AI should do.