Online Substitution Rules: what this AI agent does and how to use it

Try the Online Substitution Rules live demo →

What it does

The Online Substitution Rules agent is the specialist for this job: sets substitution rules per category so pickers choose replacements customers accept.

Who it's for

Your team. It runs in the console for your staff and through the REST API. It is a team agent, so it is never exposed to shoppers.

Questions it answers

Ask it in any of our languages, for example:

• "Which categories get substituted most, and what rules should we set?"
• "Are customers rejecting our substitutions?"
• "Write substitution rules for dairy and bakery"

The live demo shows these as sample prompts in your language, on a fictional store's data.

How it works

1. It understands the question in the language it was written in, even when your catalog is in another language.
2. It looks things up with tools, never from memory:

• Fulfilment_stats
• Read-only sql over your retail data (sandboxed per workspace)
• Search over your policies and faqs, with citations

3. It answers from your data, in your brand voice and currency, and shows which tools it used.
4. Rules stay in code. Prices, eligibility and permissions come from your data and settings; the agent explains them and can't invent them. Why this matters.

The data it needs

Orders, Order lines, Products. As soon as these tables are loaded, the agent is ready to switch on. Files can use your own column names: they're mapped automatically. See Connect your data.

Works well with

• Reserve and Try Assistant: Finds which store has the item in stock so shoppers can reserve it and try it on.
• Collection Order Chaser: Tracks in-store collection orders, flags ones waiting too long and drafts customer reminders.
• Endless Aisle Ordering: When an item is out of stock in store, finds it elsewhere and explains how to get it delivered.
• Store Picking Assistant: Builds an efficient pick list for open online orders, grouped by location, with substitutes for gaps.
• Unified Stock Visibility: Shows one view of stock across stores and warehouse for any product, with what's on order.

Your team can use them side by side in the console, or call each one through the API.

Turn it on

1. Load the data it needs.
2. Install Online Substitution Rules from the Agent catalog and add your own instructions (guide).
3. Test it in the Playground, in every language you serve.
4. Invite your team or call it from your own systems.

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