Coca-Cola is using AI to help retailers decide which ones of their products to order

Coca-Cola has revealed that it is using AI to help retailers decide what products to order, and the company says 83% of participating outlets followed its recommendations during a recent campaign.

The feature, called Perfect Basket, is part of Coca-Cola’s Coke Buddy digital ordering platform. It suggests products and quantities based on each retailer’s previous orders, ordering habits, seasonal demand, weather and purchasing trends from similar businesses. Coke Buddy itself meanwhile currently serves around 39,000 retail outlets in Malaysia. Besides ordering, the platform also handles personalised recommendations, promotions and order tracking.

To encourage use of the feature, they also ran a campaign earlier this year get retailers onboard. The Perfect Basket, Perfect Ride campaign ran from January to April 2026 and attracted more than 4,500 entries from over 4,000 retailers across Malaysia. The grand prize went to Soru Group Sdn Bhd, which received a Perodua Alza worth more than RM60,000.

Coca-Cola says retailers that adopted Perfect Basket’s recommendations recorded stronger sales revenue growth than similar outlets during the campaign, although it did not provide specific figures.

The recommendations are generated by Coca-Cola’s Central Recommendation Engine (CRE). Retailers aren’t required to follow them though, with the company positioning Perfect Basket more as a way to identify products and pack sizes that may be relevant to their business.

“Retailers understand their businesses best, but identifying the right assortment, pack mix and complementary products can take time.

Perfect Basket brings relevant information together to provide a practical starting point for each order, while ensuring retailers retain control over their final decisions,” – Patrick Go, Coca-Cola Bottlers Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei, Commercial Director (Malaysia & Brunei)

Go added that the strong participation of their retailers shows their openness towards embracing digital tools that make ordering easier. He notes that Coca-Cola will continue enhancing Coke Buddy and Perfect Basket using feedback from retailers, while their sales teams will work towards remaining connected to customers.

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