The Home Depot Enhances its In-Store AI Assistant
The Home Depot enhanced its AI assistant, Magic Apron, to include localized store knowledge to assist in-store shoppers, reports Yahoo Tech. The retailer said in a Thursday press release that the tool is now available in all of the company's over 2,000 U.S. locations. Customers can access the tool while using Store Mode in the retailer's mobile app or scan a QR code on signs in stores. Users can now ask questions through text, voice-to-text and image search queries. Shoppers can use Magic Apron to find items, navigate stores more efficiently, ask product questions, and get personalized guidance.
Total Retail's Take: The Home Depot is demonstrating what the next phase of retail AI could look like: moving generative AI off the website and into the physical store. According to The Home Depot, Magic Apron brings expert guidance directly into customers' hands using knowledge tailored to each customer's chosen store. By connecting conversational AI with inventory, product data and store wayfinding, the home improvement retailer is turning the smartphone into an in-aisle shopping assistant, potentially removing friction at some of the most important moments in the purchase journey.
Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of interconnected retail, said, "Magic Apron takes the best of our digital expertise and brings it into the physical store, creating a more connected shopping experience that helps customers find products, get project guidance, and make decisions faster."
Broggi also commented on how the tool complements store associates instead of replacing them. "Our associates remain at the center of the shopping experience, and Magic Apron gives customers another way to access guidance and support while they're in our stores," he said.
The Home Depot debuted Magic Apron in March 2025 as a suite of generative AI tools designed to respond to customers' questions and refine search results. The tool launched on the retailer's website and through its mobile app, and performed how-to instructions, suggested products, and summarized reviews. Today, the AI assistant responds to millions of questions every month, the company said in its press release.
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Kristina Stidham is the digital content director at Total Retail and sister brands Women in Retail Leadership Circle and Women Leading Travel & Hospitality at NAPCO Media. She is passionate about digital media and handles video, podcast and virtual event production for all brands. You can often find her at WIRLC, TR, WLT&H or industry events with her camera and podcasting equipment—or at home on Zoom—recording interviews with thought leaders and business executives.
Kristina holds a B.A. in Media Studies and Production from the Temple University Klein College of Media and Communication in Philadelphia. Go Owls! When she's not in the office, she loves to go on long walks, sing around the house, hangout with her family and two pet guinea pigs, and travel to new places.
