AI in practice: Walmart’s 9 use cases in pricing and beyond
Danilo Zatta, PhD, MBA
Helping companies grow revenues and profits I TopLine, Pricing & Revenue Models Advisor
Dear Friends,
Walmart , one of the world’s largest retailers, embarked in a journey to revolutionize shopping with AI. This case shows how innovative corporation are introducing concrete AI use cases in pricing and beyond.
Walmart’s 9 use cases below.
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Walmart: 9 AI use cases in pricing and beyond
Recent advancements in AI at Walmart are not just enhancing shopping convenience but also restructuring operations to meet unique customer needs and preferences. This data-driven approach is reshaping customer interactions, transforming shopping into a personalized, engaging experience that anticipates individual preferences.
The goal is to evolve from an omnichannel retailer to an adaptive retailer, intersecting with customers at their convenience to fulfill their desires seamlessly. One standout AI feature, text to shop, allows customers to add items to their cart and place orders via text message.
Walmart is actively innovating with AI across several fronts. Initiatives like Dynamic Pricing, Voice Order or Shopping Assistance are key components of this adaptive retail strategy. These technologies form an interconnected ecosystem for a cohesive shopping experience that caters to both in-store and online consumers.
Let's delve briefly into each innovation:
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1- AI-based pricing: With the roll-out of digital shelf labels in 2,300 stores by 2026 Walmart is drastically innovating the way prices are managed. Like this Walmart will not only be able to change prices dynamically based on AI algorithms but will also reduce labor costs and be much faster implementing price changes. The intention is to create greater access to goods and services as well as better purchasing options for customers.
2- Voice order: Customers can order at Walmart via voice or text messages, i.e text to shop, powered by conversational AI. The technology developed both with Google and Apple suggests items with the best local price and availability.
3- Shopping assistance: Walmart’s AI shopping assistant helps planning events by recommending products and tailored solutions for specific needs.
4- Virtual Try-on: Customers can virtually try on apparel using their smartphone cameras, allowing them to visualize fit and style in real-time. This feature enhances decision-making and customer engagement across a wide range of apparel.
5- View in Your Home: Extending the virtual try-on concept to home décor, this feature enables customers to preview furniture and accessories in their living spaces via smartphone, aiding confident purchase decisions.
6- In-Home Replenishment: This feature predicts when essential items are running low by analyzing purchase history and usage patterns. It automates the ordering process, saving time, money, and reducing food waste, aligning with Walmart's sustainability goals.
7- Sam's Club Scan & Go: This AI-enabled feature allows customers to scan items with their smartphones while shopping and seamlessly check out, streamlining the retail experience and reducing checkout friction.
8- Shop with Friends: Currently in beta, this social-commerce feature enhances virtual try-ons by enabling friends to provide feedback during fitting sessions, enhancing engagement and decision-making.
9- Ask Sam: This solution helps Walmart in-store employees assisting them with product locations, price checks, schedule queries through simple voice commands.
These innovations underscore Walmart's commitment to AI-driven retail transformation, integrating smart supply chains and enhancing understanding of consumer preferences. This strategic approach positions Walmart and other industry players for sustainable growth in adaptive retail.
Do you have any AI use case of your company or of other companies to share?
Interested in learning more about pricing and AI? You will find a deep dive on all this in the book The Pricing Model Revolution, released by Wiley in the chapter on AI-based pricing.
Get your copy of ‘The 10 Rules of Highly Effective Pricing’ here.
Get your copy of ‘The Pricing Model Revolution’ here.
You are most welcome to share your views, feedbacks and own pricing experiences. Thanks a lot for your interest and support!
Pricing | Retail | Product Portfolio | Commercial Strategy | IKEA | ESADE MBA
5moExciting times ahead and great to see a retailer paving the road ahead for others. Investing in such diverse and sometimes blue ocean tech for shopping is a cash rich players game. But as a business, it needs to be tempered with how much of it is cash draining, gimmicky, or for early adopter mega-nerds, and much do those customers contribute to your bottom line. Very sophisticated tech needs a learning curve beyond most people's comfort zone, and there comes the effort vs reward question - would I rather walk to the nearest Walmart and buy my grocery? This is where it boils down to make it intuitively simple - something that Steve Jobs managed to do a few times (cliched example) Text to order, voice to order, is an example from the innovations above that would make it easier and simpler for the millions of shoppers by getting done quickly with the mundane, and freeing up time to explore the shops for new and exciting.
AI Founder & CEO @ FutureUP | Building the Future of Price Optimization | Top 50 Thought Leader in AI | Raised $9m in VC funding in AI
5moGreat use cases, Danilo Zatta, PhD, MBA! I love numbers 4 and 5 a lot! AI combined with Extended Reality for enhanced customer experience. Whoever achieves that will win in retail and elsewhere. Think of the blending of AI with smart devices like Apple Vision Pro, MS Hololens in Manufacturing, Meta and the Metaverse (gaming and entertainment), or even standard smartphones. This is the direction we are heading, and it seems that Walmart understands this! Needless to say, this will disrupt the value proposition of retailers and other industries, as well as their pricing! Dan, kudos for bringing up amazing stories every week!
A systems-thinking approach to designing sustainably profitable pricing, packaging, and licensing choices of software and connected device solutions over the course of their entire solution lifecycle.
5moNot going unnoticed by regulators. Price discrimination has been off the radar with regulators for decades but it is getting in the news recently. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/07/ftc-issues-orders-eight-companies-seeking-information-surveillance-pricing
Wow. Actually putting ideas such as these into action is, I think, the next transformative horizon of pricing. The list probably won't stop here, when you consider that with the right information, a shopper may be able to receive guidance on many other things as well. Anything from buying gifts and associated promo activity based on information about the recipient, to medical purchases, and pricing could be impacted.