A look at Walmart's AI strategy for supercenters
Walmart said its chatbots, shopping assistants, associate productivity tools 'are actively being worked on every day'
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Walmart is focused on deploying a number of artificial intelligence tools in stores and warehouses, allowing employees more time to interact with shoppers.
This, in turn, is expected to boost sales.
"Where a lot of AI … is going to make the lives easier is in the back [warehouse] and in the front [of the supercenter]," Dan Bartlett, executive vice president of Walmart corporate affairs, told FOX Business during a discussion at Walmart's shareholder week.
That will "free up more time for associates to spend time in the part that we care the most about, which is where sales take place, which is on the sales floor," he said.
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The Sam's Club "Ask Sam" voice assistant, which helps associates accomplish a number of tasks more efficiently. (Daniella Genovese/ Fox Business / Fox News)
Walmart said it's been experimenting with AI technology more than five years, including the rollout of a voice assistant, "Ask Sam," which helps Walmart and Sam's Clubs associates streamline various tasks.
The voice assistant is "built on natural language processing" and "helps associates do a number of different tasks," Sam's Club Chief Technology Officer Vinod Bidarkoppa said during a tour of an Arkansas-based Sam's Club Thursday.
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Employees can ask the voice assistant for their schedule or pull up information such as where a product is located, how much a product costs or store sales information. The technology was first introduced at Sam's Clubs in 2019 before expanding to Walmart a year later.
In 2021, Walmart also started utilizing AI to enhance online grocery ordering. For instance, the company is using deep learning AI to identify the best substitutes for customers if an item selected is out of stock.
A Sam's Club automated inventory scrubber that ensures items are in stock and easy to find. (Daniella Genovese/Fox Business / Fox News)
Just last year, the company rolled out automated inventory scrubbers to Walmart-owned Sam's Club locations nationwide.
These autonomous floor scrubbers capture data as they move around the store, ensuring items are in stock and easy to locate. This negates the need for employees to do the time-consuming task.
The goal, according to Bartlett, is to reduce shopping experience complications for associates and customers.
"That's where AI is going to really be helpful when you have to do it at the scale that we have to do it at," he said.
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Cheryl Ainoa, Walmart executive vice president of new businesses and emerging tech, said the company has a lot of different chatbots, shopping assistants and associate productivity tools across its businesses "that are actively being worked on every day."
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 68.24 | +0.17 | +0.25% |
And this is just scratching the surface, Ainoa said, adding that customers "are going to see a lot of stuff in the coming months and quarters coming out."
Sam's Club recently launched its AI Labs team within its tech organization. These associates research, explore, experiment and innovate throughout all aspects of the clubs with both member and associate-facing technology.