Amazon’s lead engineer had a dog named Rufus who ran through the hallways looking for tennis balls. This doesn’t seem like a big deal for a multi-billion dollar company. But recently, Amazon brought Rufus back to the workplace in a big way as the call of its AI-powered virtual grocery shopping assistant, complete with the dog mascot symbol. Meanwhile, Walmart has introduced its own AI-powered virtual grocery shopping assistant as the two stores continue a fight with gigantic stakes. These high-tech assistants provide all kinds of information, answer questions, and make recommendations (read “sales tips”).
In a high-tech, high-stakes food battle, Seattle-based Amazon and Bentonville, Ark. -based Walmart are stepping up their tech, deploying AI, their knowledge as a massive resource, further automating the chain supply and launching technologies. to increase convenience, reduce costs, reduce inventory and give everyone a competitive advantage.
The result is a futuristic clash between business and computers, as supermarket owners revolutionize retail into super-smart retail establishments and beyond as software becomes a more important element in promoting their products. .
These dueling giants continue to grow as supermarkets, adding up in terms of market share, as they continue to invest in technology. Amazon’s second-quarter sales ended June 30 at $148. 67 billion, up 10% from $134. 4 billion. Its store sales rose 5% to $55. 4 billion after growing 7% in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, Walmart’s first-quarter sales were $161. 5 billion, an increase of 6. 0%. Walmart has expanded e-commerce and in-store sales, helping consumers locate “what they’re looking for when they shop on our app or site,” said Walmart Chairman and CEO C. Douglas McMillon-Array. E-commerce penetration is expanding in all our markets. . »
In other words, the biggest fish are growing even as the line between e-commerce and in-store sales blurs. Although expansion can lead to development problems, generation is fuelling, or at least facilitating, much of this expansion as supermarkets and “super” supermarkets, which were once an idle sector when it comes to generation, are now at the forefront of how generation can have an effect on the retail experience, if only because of its size, selection and speed of delivery.
AI in the hallway
Walmart and Amazon are leading a revolution in retail by employing AI-powered virtual shopping assistants to sell and personalize the visitor experience.
AI is at the center of this “2. 0” retail revolution, as Walmart and Amazon use their knowledge to introduce products and stimulate sales. Digital grocery shopping assistants can increase sales and help consumers locate what they need faster, even if they didn’t know they were looking for it. In reality, suggest is just another word to refer to selling, as AI sales assistants are the retailer and buyer’s most productive friends.
“These advancements bring about a new era in online grocery shopping, transforming the way consumers interact with retailers,” said Jack Lindberg of Mars United Commerce of Walmart and Amazon’s use of artificial intelligence to create virtual grocery shopping assistants.
McMillon, Walmart’s chief executive, said they are “bringing new reports to life, such as AI-powered generative product searches that our consumers shop for more intuitively. “Walmart’s AI can supply products that fit activities such as “Help me plan a football night” or “What materials?”What do I want for a newborn?”
Google may lead the search engines, but Amazon and Walmart are looking to search retail. “We can perceive our customers’ desires on an even deeper level and generate personalized responses and product suggestions,” according to Walmart. where the magic resides. “
Meanwhile, Rufus, Amazon’s “AI-powered conversational grocery shopping assistant,” helped millions of consumers sort through large stocks for Amazon’s largest Prime Day ever. Think of it as a kind of automatic or synthetic distributor (AS) that we’ll help you locate and purchase. faster with AI.
In the store
While AI is helping to expand e-commerce, Amazon and Walmart are also making big adjustments to retail outlets, especially when it comes to generation. Amazon has pulled Just Walk Out, a “fast and frictionless” generation from major grocery retail outlets and taken a new approach. Amazon Fresh, on the other hand, uses Amazon’s Dash Cart generation that allows shoppers to scan parts while shopping for groceries and paying over the phone, eliminating the need to pay.
Walmart and Amazon are leading a revolution in retail by employing AI-powered virtual grocery shopping assistants to upsell and personalize the visitor experience.
However, generation is only one component of what Amazon has in store. Whole Foods launches Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, a fast-track store format with a dominance of between 7,000 and 14,000 square feet, versus the typical Whole of 40,000 square feet. Food Market.
Walmart has been looking at the food shopping experience, renovating roughly 70 retail outlets in the last quarter and is on track to make more than 900 this year, according to McMillon. However, expansion also means cutting back on things that don’t work. . Walmart recently made the decision to close its fitness clinics in the United States, which reduced reimbursement rates and charging for services.
“We no longer saw a way to reach an appropriate point of profitability and we are committed to being disciplined in our investments,” Walmart said.
Delivering results
Walmart and Amazon specialize in delivering effects and products quickly. Both convenience and cost. “We’re trying to save our consumers time and money,” McMillon said. “We are led by people and supported through technology. “
It may seem like an undeniable statement, but focusing on saving time and money is essential. Convenience is as much about cost. This fight to save time and money is a hallmark of the smart grocery revolution, as stores compete on convenience. Amazon’s free shipping with Prime has been a key differentiator. But Walmart is stepping up delivery and in-store pickup, recently introducing early-morning on-demand delivery to customers’ doors starting at 7 a. m. m. and in just 30 minutes. Walmart same-day delivery is available at more than 6,500 locations worldwide.
“At Walmart US, over the past 12 months, 4. 4 billion pieces were delivered the same day or next day, and about 20% were delivered in less than 3 hours,” McMillon said recently. “Delivery times are getting faster and, at the same time, delivery prices are going down. »
Logistics
Amazon and Walmart are investing heavily in complex logistics and origin chain automation to achieve power and capacity.
Amazon and Walmart are also investing in advanced logistics. McMillon said Walmart is working to “create a smarter, more flexible and automated supply chain” for its 4,600 grocery stores.
Walmart is building five new high-tech consistent grocery distribution centers and expanding four classic consistent grocery centers by adding 500,000 square feet of location-based automation to develop new production capacity. “We are adding cutting-edge technology to our services to enable greater speed and greater capacity that will allow us to serve our consumers even more reliably,” said Dave Guggina, executive vice president of the service chain. source at Walmart US
Walmart’s high-tech distribution centers can process twice as many records as traditional centers, more than double the quantities processed per hour. Automated systems cleverly layer pallets with more fragile items, such as eggs or fruit, toward the top.
Meanwhile, Amazon has such delivery capabilities that it delivers for other stores, adding grocery chains like Save Mart-owned Lucky Supermarkets. “We’re partnering with third-party stores that our consumers already love,” said spokesperson Carol Rogalski. for Amazon, she told Grocery Dive.
Hallway advertising
Although sales have increased at Amazon and Walmart, both corporations also use their outlets to generate profits from advertisers and not just sales.
Amazon and Walmart operate their physical outlets to generate ad revenue.
Walmart recently introduced its Sam’s Club Member Access Platform, or MAP, which it claims makes it the “first retail media platform to integrate classified ads into a self-service payment mobile app experience. “
“This launch represents a step towards Retail Media 2. 0. . . combining. . . physical and virtual experiences,” said Andrew Lipsman, Founder and Chief Media Analyst, Ads Commerce.
Sam’s Scan & Go adoption has increased 50% for this subscription feature over the past 3 years, adding one in 3 Sam’s Club members. Diana Marshall, executive vice president and chief expansion officer at Sam’s Club, said this means “the right classifieds reach the right members at the right time in their grocery shopping journey. “
Walmart also gains insights “to better understand members’ purchasing habits and ad performance,” while helping “advertisers achieve their goals. ” Department stores are acquiring great knowledge that will allow them to increase their sales.
impulse label
Inflation has raised values everywhere, prompting Walmart and Amazon to react, engaging in a competitive stock race. The one thing that doesn’t go unnoticed at Walmart and Amazon turns out to be value. Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky recently said consumers are “hunting for deals” on less expensive and better-selling products.
“We’ve increased the number of promotions for our customers. . . ” Jason Buechel, CEO of Whole Foods, told Yahoo! Finance. “As a result, we have seen double-digit expansion in promotional items units. “
Deals and discounts proliferate on Amazon, and Walmart helps keep prices low with its low-price strategy. At the same time, Walmart and Amazon are strengthening their personal brands.
Whole Foods is expanding its personal labels to offer more features and combat inflation. The 365 personal brand at Whole Foods already offers more than 3000 products, with more in the works.
Meanwhile, Walmart recently introduced a new food personal label logo called Bettergoods, which McMillon called “the largest food personal label logo in 20 years. “He said that 70% of premium pieces charge less than 5 dollars. Bettergoods proves that the world’s largest stores rarely think big and small at the same time. Amazon and Walmart are growing, both in stores and online. Of course, they need you to know where to shop. But just ask Walmart and Amazon; They’ll probably tell you that they need their resolution to be to shop online or in person, not where.
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