Walmart has revealed its ambitious foray into artificial intelligence (AI) and drone technology to improve its customers' shopping experience.
At Tuesday's 2024 CES trade show in Las Vegas, the retail giant announced the expansion of its drone delivery services to reach an additional 1.8 million households in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area later this year, covering 75% of the area, the Associated Press reported.
Walmart Drone Delivery Expansion
The expansion in drone deliveries is a sign of growing demand and efficiency, according to Walmart executives, who also emphasized that no competitor has achieved such proximity to households in a major metropolitan market.
Walmart's technology-centric approach revolves around providing a seamless integration of online and offline shopping experiences. In its CES presentation, the retail giant unveiled how advanced technologies like AI and augmented reality (AR) will redefine its role as a shopping destination.
The objective is to transition from being a mere retailer to acting as a customer's concierge, assisting them in achieving broader shopping goals.
Walmart Unveils New AI Innovations
Among the innovations highlighted was a new generative AI-powered search experience for iOS customers, enabling them to search based on specific use cases rather than individual product searches. This enhanced search functionality produces relevant, cross-category results, streamlining the shopping process.
Walmart also offered a glimpse into its "InHome Replenishment," a service leveraging AI and the company's replenishment expertise to ensure timely delivery of the right items to customers' refrigerators.
A beta social commerce platform called Shop with Friends was also introduced, taking AR shopping to the next level by allowing customers to share virtual outfits with friends and receive feedback on their fashion choices.
Sam's Club, a subsidiary of Walmart, has also introduced a new technology to tackle a common concern among its members - the hassle of waiting in line for receipt verification upon exiting the club.
This cutting-edge technology leverages a first-of-its-kind application of AI and computer vision to enhance the convenience of the exit process for club members.
In expanding its drone delivery services, Walmart aims to provide customers with the ultimate convenience of receiving their items in just 30 minutes. According to AP, Walmart has already completed 20,000 drone deliveries in seven states.
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