Episode Details

In this episode, we go deep into what agentic commerce actually looks like in a real-world vertical, and why grocery may be one of the most important battlegrounds.

We walk through the shift from “tools that help you shop” to systems that shop for you, and how that fundamentally changes everything from discovery to monetization.

We also unpack the tension between grocers and platforms like Instacart, the rise of retail media networks, and why owning your data, and your customer relationship, may matter more than ever in an AI-driven world.

Highlights 

• Regional grocers are losing both data and margin to platforms like Instacart
• Agentic commerce shifts grocery from manual planning → “do it for me” automation
• Delectable combines food intelligence + shopper intelligence + real-time inventory
• AI closes the gap between inspiration (TikTok/recipes) → instant cart creation
• Vertical AI beats horizontal models with better accuracy, speed, and cost efficiency
• Grocery e-commerce hasn’t saved time, until now
• Retail media networks are massive, but broken by middlemen and inefficiency
• Agentic advertising creates unlimited, contextual ad inventory
• The future of grocery is about owning discovery, not renting it

If you want to understand where agentic commerce gets real, beyond theory and into infrastructure, this is one to pay attention to.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 — Who owns grocery discovery today
 02:05 — Intro to Delectable AI
 04:00 — Joe’s background in enterprise commerce
 10:00 — Why grocery (and why now)
 12:50 — The Agentic Experience Platform explained
 14:30 — Why grocery e-commerce hasn’t saved time
 15:50 — “Do it for me” shopping vs tools
 17:00 — Retail media inefficiencies and opportunity
 19:00 — The shopper journey (TikTok → cart)
 22:00 — Fundraising + early traction
 26:00 — Vertical vs horizontal AI debate
 30:00 — Instacart, data ownership, and margins
 32:00 — Why vertical AI wins (accuracy, speed, cost)
 34:30 — What’s next for Delectable

👉 Connect with Joseph Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephchiahsunlee/

👉 Learn more about Delectable AI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/delectable-ai/

🧠 Want to stay ahead in AI commerce? Subscribe and follow along:

📰 Subscribe to the free Substack: retailgentic.ai

📺 Watch episodes on YouTube & Subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/@Retailgentic