Nicole Ruiz, a writer and parent, has developed an AI-powered shopping system to help her family find high-quality, long-lasting items while avoiding drop-shipping brands and poor products. Her system uses custom instructions for vetting brands based on heritage, craftsmanship, and return policies.
The system uses Claude, a tool that helps surface century-old manufacturers over trendy direct-to-consumer brands. It also allows users to search through trusted vendor websites with poor UX and automate returns by finding receipts in email and drafting refund requests. Ruiz's system uses AI to help small artisans and heritage brands compete against Amazon's infrastructure.
Ruiz has shared her process in an interview series on Substack, where she covers topics such as building a Claude Project for household purchasing, reducing mental overhead with the "anti-to-do list" concept, and using gift cards strategically. She also discusses how AI helps century-old brands with terrible websites and processes returns efficiently.
The tools referenced include Claude (https://claude.ai/) and Claude Cowork (https://www.anthropic.com/product/claude-cowork). Other resources mentioned include Boston General Store, L.L.Bean, Manufactum, and articles from Lenny's Newsletter.
