Walmart Bets on AI Services to Help Customers Shop Faster
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Walmart is working to enhance the shopping experience through artificial intelligence (AI) technology, including the launch of a replenishment service called InHome, which aims to achieve fully automated grocery replenishment, eliminating the need for customers to shop in person. The service helps users automatically order the right items at the right time and delivers them to a courier, who can place the items directly into the customer's refrigerator.
With this service, users only need to pay a monthly membership fee of $20 to enjoy seamless delivery of goods. At the same time, Walmart hopes to use AI technology to generate shopping lists for users, reducing their burden of selection.
The plan is still in the development stage. Similar attempts have been made in the past by Amazon's Dash Replenishment Service, but they were mainly applied to specific areas such as smoke detectors and washing machines. However, Walmart's goal is to be more responsive to users' actual needs rather than simply sending groceries on a fixed schedule. Walmart showcased its latest AI technologies at CES 2024, including a generative AI search engine for iOS applications. This search engine can handle broader queries, allowing users to ask questions like "What do I need for a Super Bowl party?" without specifying particular products or ingredients, and the system will provide corresponding recommendations.
Additionally, Sam's Club, a subsidiary of Walmart, is developing a device to be placed at store exits. It uses computer vision technology to scan shopping carts and verify whether customers have paid for all items in their carts. This technology aims to eliminate the cumbersome process of manual receipt and cart checks at exits, thereby improving checkout efficiency. Walmart aims to make the shopping process easier and faster through AI technology. In addition to investing in drone delivery services to accelerate item delivery, the company is also committed to developing various AI tools to help users more easily find the products they need among the vast array of online shopping options. This sometimes means making shopping fun, sometimes enabling faster completion of purchases, and sometimes even eliminating the need for users to shop at all—because the food in their fridge never runs out.