On April 20, at the 15th anniversary merchant conference of Tmall Supermarket, the AI supermarket intelligent assistant "Super Cat 1.0" was officially introduced. "Super Cat 1.0" includes sub-agents covering 16 business areas, spanning the entire process from product planning to supply chain management.
Jiao Jin, General Manager of the Tmall Supermarket Operations Center, explained that "Super Cat" focuses on the "online supermarket" sector and is designed around the full lifecycle of supermarket operations. It is the first AI supermarket intelligent assistant to be implemented in China. "Most merchants on Tmall Supermarket are leading brand owners, and Tmall Supermarket itself is also a retailer. We have broken down the overall operations of a retailer in supermarket retail."
Taking product planning as an example, decisions were previously based mainly on experience, with various types of data serving as supplementary aids. A key pain point for top brands is the high cost of launching new products. "Super Cat" can simulate sales outcomes under different user groups, cities, and marketing investments through AI-driven simulations before a new product is launched.
Jiao Jin stated, "It’s as if, even before product planning begins, 'Super Cat' has already refined the main images, titles, and selling points, and even completed the marketing and advertising plan. By working backwards from the results, it significantly reduces the trial-and-error costs for brands." This feature has already been implemented for Tmall Supermarket’s own brand "Zhen Xuan," with the success rate for new product launches nearing 30%, far exceeding the industry average of 5%.
Xie Dong, Chief AI Architect of Tmall Supermarket, noted that unlike ordinary AI business tools, "Super Cat" functions more like a management hub embedded with Tmall Supermarket’s database, knowledge base, and brand graph. On the merchant side, it includes sub-agents for operational diagnostics, link optimization, product planning, advertising management, and intelligent replenishment. After a brand submits its operational needs, "Super Cat" coordinates the various sub-agents to complete the tasks collaboratively.
According to reports, efficiency improvements on the platform side are also significant. Review times have been reduced from days to minutes, the setup time for promotional events has been cut from an average of 15 hours to just 2 hours, and procurement and product selection efficiency has been shortened to 10 minutes.