🛍️ Walmart’s Adaptive Retail Strategy
Walmart announced it will accelerate its Adaptive Retail strategy, aiming to personalize shopping experiences through AI and augmented reality (AR). As part of this push, Walmart’s Wallaby AI will power unique homepages for every shopper, tailoring their experience based on past interactions. By integrating generative AI, the retailer seeks to combine in-store, app, and online experiences into one immersive journey. The updated personalized website is expected to roll out in the U.S. by the end of 2025.
🤖 Wallaby: Walmart’s AI Engine
Wallaby, Walmart’s in-house large language model, has been trained using decades of internal data. It works with other AI tools to deliver highly customized shopping experiences. Customers will benefit from AI-powered assistants that provide tailored recommendations and speed up searches. "A standard search bar is no longer the fastest path to purchase," said Suresh Kumar, Walmart’s global CTO. The personalized search tools aim to reduce the average time customers spend browsing, which currently stands at 6 hours a week.
📱 Enhanced Online Shopping Experience
To further enhance its e-commerce platform, Walmart has introduced an AI-driven Content Decision Platform. This system predicts customer preferences and curates their homepage based on interests, creating an intuitive shopping experience. Walmart is also focusing on improving the quality of its product catalog, having used AI to generate 850M pieces of data for better in-store and online search. These updates follow Walmart's generative AI-powered search tools, introduced in January 2024.
🕶️ Expanding into Virtual Shopping
Walmart is extending its Adaptive Retail strategy beyond traditional stores and websites. The retailer is developing a platform called Retina, an augmented reality shopping experience that will allow customers to shop in virtual social environments. This innovation signals Walmart’s effort to integrate virtual and physical shopping into one seamless experience. Although no launch date for Retina has been provided, it’s a sign of Walmart’s ongoing commitment to pushing the boundaries of retail technology.
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