Walmart's Retail Renaissance Brings Better to Life with Innovation, Integrations

Business Wire 6-Jun-2024 5:15 PM

Company incorporates drone delivery into app, expands InHome service, and elevates shopping experience with GenAI Assistant for unmatched customer convenience

At Walmart, the customer has always been at the center of everything. Helping people live better is not a mantra, it's been part of the company since day one.

Today's customers are tech savvy, with elevated expectations around how, when and where they shop. Walmart is meeting this customer demand with adaptive retail, innovations that intuitively fit into customers' lives as they seamlessly move across platforms and places.

"Driven by our commitment to help our customers live better, we're constantly working to create shopping experiences that are convenient, engaging and personalized. This experience needs to be cohesive, interconnected and seamlessly integrated into their everyday lives," said Tom Ward, Chief eCommerce Officer, Walmart U.S. "By consistently pushing the boundaries, we're continuing to lead the industry in service of our customers."

Walmart.com and its mobile app provide customers access to the entire store assortment and more, serving as a digital gateway to many everyday services such as auto care, pharmacy, and virtual try-ons – it's the essential shopping destination. The company continues to accelerate, delivering more solutions and innovations to meet its customers' changing needs.

Walmart App: Drone Delivery Integration

Since Walmart began trialing drone delivery in 2021, the service has grown rapidly, completing over 30,000 drone deliveries to date, signaling customers are embracing and enjoying the speedy delivery option. Earlier this year, Walmart announced the largest drone delivery expansion of any U.S. retailer, making drone delivery a reality for up to 75% of the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) population. A Dallas-area customer recently shared that drone delivery saved the day when company unexpectedly arrived, and she needed snacks for her guests in minutes.

As a next step, Walmart is focused on enhancing the customer journey by bringing the ordering experience directly to the Walmart app. Starting later this month, customers in DFW will begin to be notified of the new ordering capability through the Walmart app if they are eligible for drone delivery based on the address associated with their account. The integration will be done in phases as more drone delivery sites launch and drone providers receive additional regulatory approvals to fly more goods across greater distances.

Creating a more seamless shopping experience on the Walmart app is the next evolution of Walmart's investment in drone delivery technology, further reaffirming its unwavering commitment to finding innovative experiences and delivery solutions for customers, helping them to live better.

Meeting All Your Needs, From A to Z

Walmart has built a suite of Pickup and Delivery options that underscore convenience and fit into customers' lifestyles. From In-Store Pickup to Early Morning Delivery and Late-Night Express Delivery, these offerings empower customers, providing them flexibility and control to get what they need when they need it.

The company's InHome service is designed to be the ultimate time saver for customers by delivering everyday essentials, general merchandise, and fresh groceries directly into their homes. Walmart is the only retailer offering delivery straight into customers' kitchens or homes. InHome is available as an add-on to the Walmart+ membership. Walmart has recently expanded the reach of its InHome service, making it accessible to over 45 million households across more than 50 markets nationwide. These markets include major metropolitan areas such as Boston, Detroit, and Philadelphia. With this expansion, Walmart has created over 4,000 jobs for dedicated InHome Associate Delivery drivers nationwide since the program's launch in 2019.

In January, Walmart revealed that they were enhancing the InHome service with Replenishment. Replenishment, powered by AI, utilizes a personalized algorithm to predict customer needs and automatically place items into the cart with your InHome order to be delivered straight to customers pantries and refrigerators. The algorithm learns customers' regularly purchased items including frequency and quantity. In April, Replenishment began its initial testing, and customer feedback has been positive. They noted that the service provides them with increased flexibility, time savings, and a level of precision in the items added to the cart. One customer said that Replenishment has given them the reassurance that they won't forget necessary items from their weekly shopping list.

GenAI-Powered Shopping Assistant

Our GenAI search experience on Walmart.com and in-app launched earlier this year, allowing customers to spend less time scrolling, tapping and searching and more time enjoying life. This advanced capability enhances the shopping experience by enabling customers to browse based on specific use cases, generating more relevant and cross-category results. Since that time, Walmart has added more GenAI-powered online shopping features, including GenAI-powered product reviews, product summarizations and product comparisons.

Walmart is now beta testing a GenAI-powered shopping assistant. The shopping assistant engages customers in natural, free-flowing conversations. As customers discover, evaluate, and decide on the best product for them, the assistant can guide them to make the best choice for their unique needs, faster. For instance, the shopping assistant can respond to customer inquiries such as, 'What's the ideal present for a 5-year-old?" Over time, it will evolve to include more advanced features and capabilities, eventually serving as a trusted shopping companion and further transforming Walmart from a place to buy items to the first stop for any need or occasion.

Continuing to Deliver for Customers

At Walmart, a passion for delivering exceptional unmatched customer convenience knows no bounds. The company is committed to continuously building, innovating, and enhancing services, so that customers can make the most of their time. From late-night deliveries to early morning express and even direct entry into customers' homes, Walmart is there to help customers thrive and live better.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer helping people save money and live better — anytime and anywhere — in stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, approximately 255 million customers and members visit more than 10,500 stores and numerous eCommerce websites in 19 countries. With fiscal year 2024 revenue of $648 billion, Walmart employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy, and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/walmart, on X (formerly known as Twitter) at twitter.com/walmart, and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/walmart.

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