Walmart is building a GenAI-powered shopping assistant

Walmart is building another GenAI-powered experience for its customers and members, today announcing it is beta testing a shopping assistant in the mobile app.

The shopping assistant aims to enhance the online shopping experience and help customers feel confident that they’re making the best choice at any phase of the shopping journey—from inspiration to discovery to selection.

During the beta phase, the shopping assistant will show up organically for select customers nationwide in the Walmart mobile app for items where assistance is typically required, such as toys, home products and electronics.

Customers can ask the shopping assistant questions with natural phrases, with the tool evolving to include more advanced features and capabilities over time. For instance, the shopping assistant can answer questions such as, "Which TV is best for watching soccer?" In the future, it will be available in the Walmart app and on Walmart.com, and it will be able to ask more specific follow-up questions like, "How is the lighting in the room where you'll place the TV?" This is to ensure that the customer's choice suits their specific needs.

How Walmart’s new GenAI-powered shopping assistant can help a customer choose a TV model that is best suited to their needs

Ultimately, the vision is for the GenAI-powered shopping assistant to serve as a trusted shopping companion—helpful, resourceful and always available—further transforming Walmart from a place to buy items to the first stop for any need or occasion.

The shopping assistant will join Walmart’s suite of GenAI-powered shopping capabilities, which currently includes GenAI-powered search within the navigation bar, product reviews, product summarizations and product comparisons.

All of the company's GenAI tools are powered by Walmart’s proprietary AI/ML and Conversational AI platforms and incorporate Walmart’s guiding principles of leveraging best-of-breed technologies and prioritizing speed and scale, while also considering cost, security and governance.