Deployment record
In the tracker →- Organisation
- Batteries Plus
- System
- Savannah, Edison, and Wattson
- Stage
- Live
- Function
- franchise growth and customer service
- Scale
- more than 800 locations
- 01Batteries Plus has successfully rolled out three AI agents, Savannah, Edison, and Wattson, across all its store locations.
- 02Savannah focuses on franchise development, providing prospective franchisees with information and scheduling calls.
- 03Edison manages customer inquiries, handling calls about store hours, directions, and products in both English and Spanish, while filtering spam calls.
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- 04Wattson assists store associates in product lookup, particularly for automotive batteries, by streamlining the search process based on vehicle details.
- 05In Q3, Batteries Plus signed 19 new franchise agreements and opened 13 new locations, with over 800 locations currently open and in development across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Batteries Plus
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Batteries Plus has completed the rollout of its three AI agents across its store network, President Jon Sica said in a LinkedIn post on October 26, 2026.
"Savannah, Edison, and Wattson, our AI agents, are now in use across all Batteries Plus locations," Sica wrote, adding that they are "already accelerating franchise growth and improving the in-store experience."
The Hartland, Wisconsin-based battery and power solutions franchisor unveiled the platform on August 31, describing it as a proprietary set of AI tools built with vendor partners, consultants, and in-house research.
At the time, the company said deployment was underway at all locations, with full system rollout expected by the end of September.
What Each Agent Does
Savannah handles franchise development. Prospective franchisees who call to ask about the opportunity receive an email after the call with an overview of the business, a franchise application, and a discovery call already scheduled.
Savannah also handles outbound prospecting and SMS. It was built in-house under Chief Development Officer Joe Malmuth, who said "Savannah is changing the game in our franchise growth strategy."
Edison answers customer calls to Batteries Plus stores. It handles questions on store hours, directions, battery advice, and products and services, in both English and Spanish, and filters out spam calls.
The week's store, brand and commerce deployments. Fridays.
It listens for keywords and escalates calls to store staff when needed, and customers who prefer not to speak to an AI can be routed to a person. Edison was developed with SynthFlow AI and serves more than 700 stores, each averaging about 30 calls a day, the company said.
Wattson is connected to the point-of-sale system to help store associates, particularly new ones, find products quickly.
For automotive batteries, it shortens the lookup by asking only for the vehicle details that change the answer, and the same logic has been applied to the search tool on BatteriesPlus.com. Wattson launched system-wide in the automotive category, with other categories rolling out through the end of the year based on sales volume.
Sica described the platform as "a multi-million dollar move" in the August announcement. The company did not disclose specific results from the agents.
The Quarter
In his post, Sica said Batteries Plus signed 19 new franchise agreements and opened 13 new locations across six states in Q3. "This momentum comes from decisions made well before this quarter," he wrote.
He also noted that Phoenix franchisee Stephen Lutfi was named an International Franchise Association Franchisee of the Year, and that marketing leaders Sara Whiteleather and Chris McGee were recognized by Franchise Assembly.
Batteries Plus, owned by Freeman Spogli, has more than 800 locations open and in development across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
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