Wal-Mart is Testing AR and AI in its Stores
Wal-Mart has been introducing artificial intelligence, generative AI, and other immersive technologies in its stores as part of their adaptive retail strategy which seeks to incorporate technology into its customer experience. The idea behind is to create a hyper-personalized shopping experience across all of its points of sales, whether physical or digital.
Wallaby
Wal-mart’s AI platform, Wallaby, uses the retailer’s data to create LLMs that can be used to create contextual experiences specific to the Wal-Mart environment. The Bentonville-headquartered giant is introducing new technologies that aim to make the customer’s shopping journey as seamless as possible. Its customer support assistant that has been upgraded by integrating gen AI features that recognizes returning customers based on their past interactions with the retailer.
Content decision platform
Wal-Mart is leveraging technology to predict the type of content customers are more likely to interact with. The content tool essentially creates an unique homepage for each user. Rollout in the US has already started and is expected to be complete by the end of 2025. The platform is also planned to be introduced in both Canada and Mexico.
Retina
Wal-Mart’s augmented reality platform generates thousands of 3D assets that can be used to enrich the customer’s shopping experience. The “View Your Home” features uses 3D for users to visualize how a given product would look in 3D.
Application Programming Interface
Wal-Mart is currently alpha testing its API program with mobile developer Unity to develop commerce-enabled APIs that can be inserted into games and apps. Tom Kang, VP and GM of metaverse commerce, Wal-Mart’s tech incubator, stresses that "By opening up Walmart’s commerce APIs to the Unity development community, we’re empowering developers to offer a new mechanism to further drive user engagement while making it easy and convenient for players to complete a transaction for physical products without leaving the game, virtual world or app."
Zepeto
Zepeto is Wal-Mart’s own avatar-based social platform and one of its first projects with unity. With Zepeto customers can buy clothes from their private-label brand No Boundaries to dress their avatars, as well as real products for the same line.
House Flip
House Flip is a mobile game developed by fun-gi, and it allows players to renovate, decorate, and sell virtual homes. Users can purchase the game’s real-life counterparts of the items they use in the game. One of its coolest features was the ability to virtually test Glidden paint colors, which are sold at Wal-Mart. The integration generated more than 12 million impressions for the brand in the first six months of the game release.
Avakin Life
Wal-Mart gives players the ability to purchase virtual copies of the latest Wal-Mart fashion or to receive the virtual copy of any physical outfit that has been purchased. Just like Zepeto, Wal-Mart has also released its first virtual clothing line, Core More Collective.
Roblox
Last year, Wal-Mart doubled down on its Roblox footprint by launching the “Supercampus Experience” which aimed to get kids excited about going back to school, with a series of challenges linked to key kiddy brands like 3M, Crayola, and BIC.
