In a bid to empower kirana stores and enhance ordering frequency, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has introduced an AI (artificial intelligence)-powered enhancement to its homegrown eB2B app, Shikhar, Executive Director Arun Neelakantan told Moneycontrol in an interview.

The latest update allows retailers to generate AI-driven personalized promotions, helping them engage directly with shoppers, improve store visibility, and drive higher sales.

Beyond increasing retailer engagement, HUL is actively tracking order frequency to ensure retailers move beyond monthly purchases to multiple orders per week. Currently, 70 percent of its retailer partners place monthly orders, a number the company anticipates will rise with this update.

"The retailers need to have a Ways and Means of attracting shoppers....we used AI because that is the only way and means where you will be able to develop capabilities, which is scalable. 1.4 million retailers, you will need to build something that's customizable for all of them," said  Neelakantan. He explained that the retailers can upload a photo of themselves in the app, which then allows the system to identify and display available offers and products in their store. They can further personalize and customize these promotions before sharing them with their customer base.