Walmart Takes the Next Step in Its Adaptive Retail Strategy
Walmart is kicking its adaptive retail strategy into high gear as it reveals proprietary AI, generative AI, augmented reality and immersive commerce platforms that it will use to create hyper-personalized, convenient and engaging shopping experiences in its Walmart and Sam’s Club stores, as well as on its apps and other virtual environments.
The retailer’s newest proprietary GenAI platform, called Wallaby, is a series of retail-specific large language models (LLM) that will be used to create customer-facing experiences. The platform is trained with decades of Walmart data, and combined with other LLMs, it will help create contextual responses tailored to the Walmart environment.
Walmart has also created a more personalized version of its AI-powered Customer Support Assistant with its proprietary GenAI platforms. The digital assistant will now recognize the customer immediately and provide a smoother experience beyond just understanding intent, including taking actions like finding orders and managing returns.
“A standard search bar is no longer the fastest path to purchase, rather we must use technology to adapt to customers’ individual preferences and needs,” said Suresh Kumar, global chief technology officer and chief development officer at Walmart. “At the heart of our platform strategy is developing common global core capabilities that are built once and deployed across Walmart U.S., Sam’s Club and Walmart International.”
Continued Kumar: “As a global company with multiple business segments, this enables us to move with speed as we bring consistent experiences to all our customers and members.”
Walmart is also taking personalization to new heights with its Content Decision Platform, which leverages AI-based technology and a GenAI-powered tool that understands the customer and can predict the type of content they’d like to see on the company’s website. This means each shopper will have a unique homepage. The U.S. experience is slated to go live by the end of next year.
“Being people-led means we start with the human need, and often, a combination of technologies like AI, GenAI, AR and Immersive Commerce, is key to the solution,” said Kumar. “Our customers guide us, and with these platforms, we’re ready for whatever they need.”
Each week, approximately 255 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries. With fiscal year 2024 revenue of $648 billion, the retailer employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide. Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Walmart one of its Retailers of the Century.
