Google & Walmart Team Up To Transform Retail

The executives of Google and Walmart are placing bets on artificial intelligence (AI) and technologies like drone delivery for the future of retail.

During a Sunday keynote address at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York City, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and incoming Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner, who will take over as the company’s next CEO in February, discussed how artificial intelligence is changing search and shopping. For marketers and retailers, the yearly event is one of the most significant retail conferences.

The CEOs of Google and Walmart announced the strong partnership.

One of the most significant announcements is that Google’s AI chatbot Gemini will allow customers to buy Walmart and Sam’s Club merchandise.

Furner said Google can pull in retailers’ catalogues and pricing to help customers find available products.

While loyalty members of Sam’s Club and Walmart can also connect their accounts to Gemini, which will enable Gemini to comprehend data such as preferences based on past purchases.

Furner stated, “We believe the future will be very personalised, and it will be very convenient.” 

The new protocols for retail also correlate with Google’s launching the Universal Commerce Framework (UCP), an AI framework designed to become the industry standard for AI agents and systems used by businesses. According to Pichai, UCP was created by Google in collaboration with Walmart, Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, and Target. It is intended to be a worldwide protocol that is compatible with current agent protocols.

Pichai had stated that it was built to meet the needs of retailers and customers, keeping the full customer relationship front and centre from the moments of discovery, decision, and beyond.

A native checkout button on Google’s AI Mode and Gemini products is powered by the protocol’s first use case.

Now retailers can utilise the UCP to customise the content around products that are offered for purchase during a conversation with a large language model (LLM). For instance, a new customer can be asked to register for a loyalty program, while an existing customer might see customised offers that can be bought via Google Pay within the same interaction.

The protocol theoretically allows retailers to use Google’s AI tools while maintaining control.

As the merchant of record, the store may influence the relationship at every stage, according to Pichai.

As AI platforms like OpenAI, Perplexity, Microsoft, and Anthropic replace conventional search, Google is in a fierce competition.

Since its public debut, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has dominated the market for AI chatbots. However, according to recent research from Similarweb, ChatGPT has been steadily losing share over the past year, going from 86.7% to 64.5%, while Google’s Gemini has been steadily gaining share, going from 5.7% to 21.5%.

According to Pichai, more than 650 million people use Google’s Gemini app each month, which is a nearly 15% increase from the previous year.

More than 50 billion product listings that track pricing, ratings, and inventories in real time are now available thanks to the tech giant’s November addition of its Shopping Graph to Gemini.

The latest example of Google’s efforts to encourage businesses and consumers to use its AI search tools by facilitating commerce activities is the company’s announcement with Walmart at NRF.

For the increased drone deliveries, Walmart is testing novel delivery technologies, like as drones.

Customers in places including Dallas, Orlando, and Atlanta can receive Walmart orders via drones thanks to an existing agreement with Google’s drone delivery business Wing. The collaboration is currently being extended to 150 other places, including Miami and Los Angeles, for a total of 270 locations.

Pichai said that in Atlanta, half of Wing’s customers place repeat orders, and 50% of deliveries arrive within 20 minutes or less.

“It’s difficult. Regulations include the aircraft’s weight, load, and speed, according to Furner. “The announcement is exciting because it will take us from coast to coast.”