Bunnings turns agentic focus to trade and commercial customers

Bunnings intends to use the same Gemini Enterprise AI technology that underpins its agentic assistant ‘Buddy’ to improve experiences for trade and commercial customers.

CIO Genevieve Elliott told the Google Cloud Summit Sydney that the launch of Buddy in April “has really expanded our sense of what's possible in delivering [the] best experience”.

Buddy is based on Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience or GECX platform.

Accessed via the top of the Bunnings retail website, it has already more than doubled online conversion rates and increased basket sizes, because it can suggest multiple products or tools to complete a DIY job.

Elliott said that Bunnings intends to expand access to Buddy outside of Australia, and to make it accessible in more places on the retail website.

“Buddy’s live in Australia [and] we’ll be launching in New Zealand later this year,” she said.

“We’ll [also] be introducing him to the product pages of our website shortly.”

Additionally, Elliott said the underlying technology would be used to improve experiences for trade and commercial customers.

These customers already have their own app called PowerPass that enables, among other things, self checkout of items and management of receipts for book-keeping purposes.

Elliott did not say exactly what Bunnings plans were with GECX for trade and commercial customers, but said that not everything could be delivered immediately.

“We’re reimagining how we support trade and commercial customers using the GECX platform,” she said.

“Some of it's possible now, some of it will take time.”

Ry Crozier attended Google Cloud Summit Sydney as a guest of Google Cloud.