Bunnings shows off AI shopping agent at Google showcase

Australian hardware chain Bunnings took centre stage at Google Cloud Next 2026 this week as it showed off Buddy, a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered shopping assistant that provides customers with expert advice and helps them find what they need.

The move comes as retail e-commerce is moving away from traditional search towards agentic commerce, where virtual agents have reasoning capabilities to understand context, identify complex needs, and act on behalf of the customer.

“Users no longer want to type keywords and then refine, sort, filter, browse and go through a long set of pages to find what they are looking for,” said Belwadi Srikanth, principal for product management at Google Cloud. “They want the AI to understand them very deeply and do the work for them.”

Vivek Pradhan, Bunnings’ general manager of data and AI, told the conference that the retailer recognised the limitations of its first-generation, in-house chatbot, Ask Bunnings AI. While it successfully surfaced Bunnings’ 15-year archive of DIY content, it created a clunky experience that required customers to open multiple browser tabs, was unable to refine recommendations, and lacked the ability to process images.

Partnering with Google, Bunnings, which runs over 500 stores across Australia and New Zealand, built and launched Buddy in just over six weeks using Gemini Enterprise for CX. Replacing the existing chatbot on the Bunnings website, Buddy is designed to transform the e-commerce experience from “product search to project search.”

Rather than typing in keywords for individual items, a customer can tell Buddy they want to build an outdoor deck, for example. The agentic assistant will then recommend the necessary decking boards, underlying structures, measuring tools, and power tools, while linking to Bunnings’ trusted how-to videos.

Crucially, the Gemini-powered agent is multimodal. Customers can upload a photo of a handwritten shopping list to add items to their cart or upload an image of a broken obscure part, such as a specific furniture cam lock, which Buddy will visually identify and locate in the customer’s nearest Bunnings warehouse.

Bunnings managing director Mike Schneider said the rollout of the technology was a practical example of the business evolving to meet changing customer behaviours. “Our customers come to Bunnings with projects big and small, and Buddy is designed to help make those projects easier to plan and get started,” he said.

“This is about embracing and using AI in a practical, responsible way to complement the advice and service our team provides every day, while giving customers more options that suit how they want to interact with us,” he added.

Paul Migliorini, vice-president of Google Cloud Australia and New Zealand, said: “AI is at its most powerful when it’s solving everyday problems, and we’re thrilled to be working alongside an iconic Australian brand like Bunnings to bring that to life.

“Using Gemini Enterprise for CX, we’re combining the best of our AI and infrastructure with Bunnings’ deep product expertise to create a true expert helper that meets customers right where they are – whether they type or share an image,” he added.

Following its progressive rollout on the Australian website, Buddy will be launched in New Zealand later this year. Bunnings also plans to consolidate its customer service touchpoints, so that Buddy handles initial support queries.

It also intends to integrate customer loyalty data, enabling the shopping assistant to offer hyper-personalised recommendations with customer consent, such as automatically suggesting tools from brands that a customer is already using.