AI

Batteries Plus debuts AI platform to drive growth, amplify store experience

Photo: Batteries Plus

September 1, 2026

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Batteries Plus, a battery and power solution retail service center, has debuted an AI platform featuring tools to boost the franchise development pipeline and enhance the store experience for both customers and store associates.

The tools include a SMS voice agent for franchise growth called Savannah, an AI voice assistant called Edison and an AI-powered search tool called Wattson, according to a press release.

The three AI tools are being deployed at all locations with the full system rollout to be completed by the end of September.

"As a brand deeply rooted in the technology space, Batteries Plus is proud to be leading the charge in the age of AI," Batteries Plus CEO Scott Williams said in the release. "This is not creating AI for the sake of breaking into the world of AI. This is creating tools that genuinely assist our entire proprietary business model, so that everyone from the corporate level to our store associates can work efficiently and confidently as the Experts in Charge dedicated to serving our customers."

Savannah was developed from the ground up under the leadership of Joe Malmuth, with the underlying goal of turning qualified franchise leads into long-term, sustainable growth. Entrepreneurs can call into Savannah, a go-to resource trained to answer any question related to the Batteries Plus franchising opportunity.

At the conclusion of each call, the prospective owner receives a detailed email that includes a link to an overview of the Batteries Plus history and business model, a franchise application, and a franchise discovery call already scheduled on the calendar, moving that lead directly to the next phase of the franchise process.

"Savannah is changing the game in our franchise growth strategy," Malmuth, chief development officer of Batteries Plus, said in the release. "We built Savannah in-house because nobody understands what a prospective Batteries Plus franchise owner needs to hear better than the people who talk to them every day. By the time we get on a discovery call now, we're speaking with someone who genuinely understands the Batteries Plus franchise opportunity, changing what our team spends its time on and who ultimately ends up in our system. The result has been a dramatic increase in overall engagement and franchise development activity — a true win-win."

Edison is a customer-facing tool, ensuring calls to all 700-plus Batteries Plus stores are answered. The voice agent handles the most common questions customers ask when they call a store, such as hours, directions using nearby landmarks, battery advice, product and service inquiries and more. Developed in partnership with SynthFlow AI, Edison was built on the foundation of years of research from the Batteries Plus team. Edison intercepts the significant volume of spam calls stores were absorbing, before an associate ever loses a minute to one. For customers who would rather not speak with an AI assistant, Edison listens for key words and phrases throughout the conversation, escalating the call to the store team when necessary.

Wattson, connected to the Batteries Plus point-of-sale system, is helping new store associates with product information. Previously, finding the right automotive battery required a lengthy process of detailing engine size, sub-model, and a chain of additional details before reaching a solution. Wattson strips that drill-down to only the questions that actually change the answer.