American retailer Walmart has developed a new, productive, AI-powered search function for online shoppers.
Customers will soon be able to have a more interactive and conversational experience. For example, if a parent is planning a birthday party for a child who loves unicorns, instead of searching multiple times for unicorn-themed party accessories, the parent can simply ask, “Help me plan a unicorn-themed party for my daughter.”
Announced by Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada, the new search is a combination of large language models with Walmart-specific data and technology, including those available in Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. uses the combination.
Walmart has also rolled out a My Assistant app for its 50,000 non-store employees that allows them to use AI to complete tasks like summarizing long documents and creating content.
“One of the reasons why Walmart and other leading retailers choose Azure OpenAI Service is the ability to access the most advanced AI models in the world while being supported by enterprise-level features found in Microsoft Azure, such as security, compliance, and regional availability.” Shelley Bransten, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of global retail, consumer goods and gaming industries, said in a blog post. “Generative AI in retail is particularly exciting because it can help usher in a new way of shopping; “We’re moving from ‘swipe search’ to ‘target search’, making the digital shopping experience more seamless and intuitive.”