Walmart announces drone delivery, Generative AI powered shopping assistant and digital shelf labels initiatives

Walmart began trialing drone delivery in 2021 and has completed over 30,000 deliveries to date.

Earlier this year, working with Wing, it announced the largest drone delivery expansion of any US retailer, bringing this to up to 75% of the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) population.

As a next step, Walmart is focused on bringing the experience directly to its app.

Starting later this month, customers in DFW will begin to be notified of the new ordering capability through the app if they are eligible for drone delivery based on the address associated with their account.  

The integration will be done in phases as more drone delivery sites launch and drone providers receive additional regulatory approvals to fly more goods across greater distances.   

Wing, CEO Adam Woodworth, says: “Our goal is to make drone delivery completely seamless for our partners and their customers.”

“When Wing delivery is available within the Walmart app later this month, customers will have a wider selection and a better shopping experience than ever before. This is a major step toward making drone delivery a part of everyday life.”

List of Walmart stores where Wing drone delivery is now available:

• 9101 N Tarrant Pkwy, North Richland Hills, TX 

• 6401 NE Loop 820, North Richland Hills, TX

• 801 W Main St, Lewisville, TX

• 8555 Preston Rd, Frisco, TX

GenAI

A GenAI search experience on Walmart.com and in-app launched earlier this year.

This enables customers to browse based on specific use cases, generating more relevant and cross-category results.

Since that time, Walmart has added more GenAI powered online shopping features, including product reviews, summarisations and comparisons. It is now beta testing a GenAI powered shopping assistant.

This can, for instance, respond to customer inquiries such as, 'What's the ideal present for a five-year-old?"

Over time, it will evolve to include more advanced features and capabilities.

Digital shelf labels

Walmart has also announced digital shelf labels, developed by Vusion Group, which will help support pricing updates for 120,000+ products on store shelves, across 2,300 stores nationwide by 2026.

"Driven by our commitment to help our customers live better, we're constantly working to create shopping experiences that are convenient, engaging and personalised. This experience needs to be cohesive, interconnected and seamlessly integrated into their everyday lives," says Tom Ward, Chief eCommerce Officer, Walmart U.S.

"By consistently pushing the boundaries, we're continuing to lead the industry in service of our customers."