Walmart and Google Partner on Conversational Commerce

Walmart shoppers can now place an order with nothing more than their voice thanks to a new partnership with Google. The retail giant announced the partnership and introduced Walmart Voice Order on its blog earlier this week

Beginning this month, customers with Google Assistant can say, ”Hey Google, talk to Walmart” and the artificial intelligence will add items directly to their Walmart grocery cart. Not only will the personal digital assistant be able to place orders for customers, it will be able to do so quickly and accuracy. And that speed and precision will only increase with use.

“The more you use it, the better we’ll get,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president, digital operations, Walmart U.S. in the blog post. “For example, if a customer says ‘add milk to my cart,’ we’ll make sure to add the specific milk the customer buys regularly. Instead of saying ‘1 gallon of 1% Great Value organic milk,’ they’ll simply say one word: ‘milk.’”

One of the key components of the Google Assistant technology is its cross-platform approach. Customers can add items to their cart from their various devices including cellphones, watches, Google home, etc., and all additions will be stored in their cart until they are ready to submit their order.

“We know when using voice technology, customers like to add items to their cart one at a time over a few days,” said Ward. “It’s cross-platform, which means customers can use any device utilizing Google Assistant, and allows for items to go directly to a customer’s shopping cart, making this capability one of a kind. We’re kicking off the work with Google, adding others to the mix as time goes on.”