American multinational retail corporation, Walmart recently declared a whole new way to shop, and it is done through text message.
As per reports, this feature enables mobile customers with iOS and Android devices to text Walmart with the products they are interested in purchasing, either at their neighborhood Walmart locations or on Walmart.com, or simply re-order items for collection.
The new “Text-to-Shop” function, on the other hand, was developed in-house using Walmart’s own proprietary intellectual property (IP), in partnership with Walmart’s Global Tech team, and tested with customers prior to introduction.
However, the results of our tests indicate that the chat experience, in its current iteration, does not appear to be mature.
Although it was intended to simplify the purchasing experience by using text rather than voice interactions, the chatbot said things that were unclear, and the UI might be difficult to use at times.
Wizard, a conversational commerce business, received funding from a former head of Walmart’s e-commerce operations in the United States, Marc Lore, who is also connected to the sector.
Walmart purchased the assets of Botmock, a design tool that had created technology that allowed businesses to create, test, and launch conversational commerce apps.
Conversational commerce, also known as shopping through SMS, is a field that has experienced a surge in investment over the past few years as a result of the proliferation of new businesses entering the market.
Before making its debut to the general public in December, the beta version had already been out there for over a year, but access to it required an invitation.
At the time of its launch, the “Text to Shop” function will make it possible for customers to shop the whole Walmart range via chat. This includes placing orders for their weekly groceries at nearby stores as well as online orders that they want to be delivered to their homes.
