Innovation & technology
15 September 2026
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Bol is introducing Shopper Agent: a personal AI shopping assistant that helps customers navigate bol’s platform in a new way by asking questions and presenting choices. From today, all bol customers can use the new AI tool in the app and on the website, next to the search bar. This is a beta version. bol will use feedback from customers and selling partners to continue developing Shopper Agent in the period ahead.
Online shopping at bol is changing with Shopper Agent. Instead of relying only on keywords and filters, customers can use everyday language to give much more context than in a traditional search query.
Camping
Someone going camping for the first time no longer has to search separately for a tent, sleeping bag or hiking shoes, but can simply describe the type of trip they are planning. This could include the destination, the season, the number of travellers and any specific preferences. Shopper Agent translates that information into relevant product recommendations from bol’s assortment, including current prices and delivery times.
In addition, Shop Assistant only takes into account information already known within bol if the customer explicitly requests it, such as previous purchases and products on a wish list, but only if the customer explicitly asks it to do so. The assistant can even compile a practical packing or shopping list for a camping trip. This makes the recommendations not only more personal, but also more up to date and better tailored to the customer’s situation than those from general AI tools.
Where needed, Shopper Agent asks follow-up questions, searches for suitable products, helps compare options and supports customers as they make a choice. The final decision always remains with the customer, who completes the purchase in bol’s familiar environment.
Reliable choices
Ronald van Rijn, Chief Product, Technology & Data Officer at bol, says: “For more than 25 years, we have been building technology at bol that makes shopping easier. With Shopper Agent, we are taking the next step in how customers discover and choose products. We are seeing online shopping shift from searching and comparing to personal guidance. Using AI is not an end in itself here. The goal is to develop human-guided technology that helps bol customers make better and reliable choices on our platform.”
For selling partners, Shopper Agent offers an additional way for relevant items to be found. The assistant looks not only at search terms, but also at product features, product information and how well an item practically matches the customer’s question. Partners do not need to make any changes for this: the existing assortment and available product information form the basis.
Shopper Agent continues to learn and improve
The beta version of Shopper Agent is continuously monitored by a team of specialists. Feedback is actively collected through customer research and conversations with selling partners. These insights help improve Shopper Agent step by step. The development of Shopper Agent was preceded by an intensive process in which engineers, data scientists and other specialists developed, tested and refined the technology. Before the first version became available shortly before the summer, the assistant was extensively tested internally by bol employees.
Shopper Agent was then gradually made available to a small group of customers via the app and website. Based on user experiences and feedback, the group of users has been expanded gradually over the past few months and the assistant has been further improved. Because ultimately, technology is not about AI in itself, but about helping customers make choices they can trust. vertrouwen.
