Wal-Mart Teams Up with Google for Voice-Shopping Business

The American multinational retailing corporation, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has entered a partnership with Alphabet’s Google to offer hundreds and thousands of products, from laundry detergent to Lego pieces, which made accessible and available on the internet giant’s online shopping mall.

By the end of September, Wal-Mart customers can link their Google’s Express shopping service and use the voice-activated Google Home speakers, the tech giant’s innovation,  to buy items for delivery. They can also delete, add, and edit multiple items to the cart through the online shopping for larger orders.

“Starting in late September, we’ll be working with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via Google Assistant, the largest number of items currently offered by a retailer through the platform,” said Wal-Mart’s head of e-commerce, Marc Lore, in a blog post.

Lore, who joined Wal-Mart after it bought his e-commerce company Jet.com, said Wal-Mart would offer a wider selection than any retailer on the platform. Beginning next year, the assortment will expand to include fresh groceries and allow for in-store pickup orders.

“Our new voice shopping capability, coupled with our core value proposition, including free two-day shipping and the Pickup Discount, will give our customers a compelling new way to get what they need at low prices,” said Lore.

Wal-Mart said that one of the primary use cases for voice shopping will be the ability to build a basket of previously bought daily necessities. That is why it decided to incorporate its Easy Recorder feature, which has data on both store and online purchases, into Google Express. Shopping recommendations will be based on previous purchases.

Wal-Mart says it will be tapping its 4,700 U.S. store, and its fulfillment network next year to offer more kinds of customer experiences using voice shopping. Lore said the company wants to make voice shopping as easy as possible.

“That’s why it makes sense for us to team up with Google. We know this means being compared side-by-side with other retailers, and we think that’s the way it should be,” Lore wrote in a corporate blog post.

The partnership is the latest move of the world’s largest retailer finding a technology partner, adding another front in its battle in an area dominated by  Amazon Inc., which abruptly delivers a bigger online selection and has a leading line of Alexa-powered Echo speakers that play music, turn on air conditioners, and handle shopping orders.

Amazon has the biggest share of the U.S. voice-controlled device industry, with its Echo devices accounting for 72.2% of the market in 2016, far ahead of the Google Home gadget’s 22%, according to a research.

Teaming up with Wal-Mart is Google’s biggest retail partnership, and the most personalized shopping experience it offers, as it tries to expand the reach of its voice-powered assistant Home speaker. It is also a boost for its Express shopping app and website, which have also struggled to vie with Amazon.

Google introduced shopping to Home in February, allowing people to use voice to order essentials from more than 40 retailers like Walgreens, Target, PetSmart, and Costco under its Google Express program.

Google and Wal-Mart Stock Performance

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) traded 2.12%, or 19.53, to $940.40, by 4:38AM GMT-4. It opened at $926.96, with a session high of $941.96, and a session low of $926.17. Its market capitalization was $649.49 billion, with a P/E ratio of 34.04.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. traded 0.39%, or 0.31, to $80.02, by 4:28 AM GMT-4. It opened at $79.80, with a session high of $80.16, and a session low of $79.71. Its market capitalization was $243.98 billion, with a P/E ratio of 19.26, and a dividend yield of 2.55%.

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