VARUS.UA simplifies shopping with AI — a new feature powered by Neomi Technology
Ukrainian users of the VARUS.UA conscious shopping service are the first to gain access to the pilot version of Neomi, an artificial intelligence feature that automatically selects ingredients for meals and forms a complete grocery basket based on a chosen recipe.
Currently, Neomi operates in test mode and is being actively improved based on real user feedback. The widget is available in a special section on the VARUS.UA website titled “Collect My Basket by Recipe”, allowing users to quickly and conveniently generate a shopping list by simply entering their meal preferences or dietary requirements.
To use the feature, a user needs to select a delivery or pickup address — this helps the system account for product availability and stock levels at the nearest store. Logging in or registration is optional but recommended for a more personalized experience.
“We see artificial intelligence as a powerful tool for simplifying daily routines. In collaboration with Neomi, we’re implementing a solution that allows customers to quickly and easily create a personalized grocery basket,”
— commented Oleh Spirin, E-Commerce Director at VARUS.
Currently, ingredient selection is based on product availability in nearby stores and customer popularity. The service also takes into account current promotions and discounts to ensure users get the best deals.
“We created Neomi knowing that people think not about individual products, but about what they want to eat. The dish comes first — the ingredients are just the means to make it. That’s why we focused on letting the user choose the meal, while the technology takes care of the rest. We were concerned that selecting a menu might take too long, but now we see that it takes about a minute and a half to form an order. That shows we’ve succeeded in rethinking the daily shopping experience that hasn’t changed for years,”
— said Dmytro Lylyk, CEO and Founder of Neomi.
The team’s future plans include improving the recommendation logic, accounting for seasonal ingredients, launching in European markets, and releasing a mobile app in 2025. For now, the product is available only to Ukrainian users placing orders through VARUS.UA.
The pilot launch of Neomi is already showing positive results: the service reduces basket formation time from 30 minutes to just 1–2 minutes and helps increase online store conversion rates.
About the Company
VARUS is a national supermarket chain represented in Ukraine’s grocery retail market by the company Omega. The first store opened in Dnipro in 2003, and today the chain includes 113 supermarkets across various Ukrainian cities, as well as a DarkStore in Kyiv. The VARUS network operates in several formats: classic supermarkets, To Go stores, and the VARUS.UA conscious shopping service.