AI Use at Walmart Boosts eCommerce Numbers

Brick-and-mortar stores are dropping like flies, but one chain is not going down without a fight.

By integrating machine learning into its operations, Walmart is bringing innovation and efficiency to its 55-year-old business.

With nearly 12,000 stores and 140 million weekly shoppers in 28 countries, Walmart comes in just behind Amazon as one of the largest retailers in the world.

At the MB 17 conference, WalmartLabs’ vice president of customer experience engineering, Laurent Desegur, shared the company’s core values for building out the digital relationship for its customers in the online arena. He shared that low prices, managing risk and making the overall shopping process as convenient as possible are the core tenants of not only what Walmart values but the requirements for eCommerce success.

“We’re essentially creating a bridge where we are enhancing the shopping experience through machine learning. This is what we call the digital relationship. We want to make sure there is a seamless experience between what customers do online and what they do in our stores,” Desegur said.

Through the use of machine learning, Walmart is helping to streamline its operations with faster shipping via associated deliveries and improved personalization for its customers. Given the fact that Walmart’s eCommerce revenue increased by 63 percent year over year last quarter, it looks as though its AI integrations have helped to bolster its reputation as an eCommerce competitor against the likes of Amazon.

Amazon may have the deeper pockets for now, but Walmart is fast on its heels and could potentially catch up within the next few years.