If you thought Walmart was this big old stodgy discount retailer (think Kmart/ Sears) that just lumbered along..............you would be WRONG. Walmart is very cutting edge and is actually a leader in machine learning, the IoT (Internet of Things) and big data. Walmart IS retail tech. Which means that Walmart knows more about you and your shopping patterns than you probably do. They are sneaky since folks probably think all that high tech stuff only happens at those "fancy" stores. Its all about innovation and customer experience. And keeping ahead of Amazon.
(Bill Taylor, CEO)
"Even though Walmart was founded in 1962, it’s on the cutting edge when it comes to transforming retail operations and customer experience by using machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data. In recent years, its patent applications, position as the second largest online retailer and investment in retail tech and innovation are just a few reasons they are among the retail leaders evolving to take advantage of tech to build their business and provide better service to their customers.Network of physical locations and online capabilities lead to innovation
Lauren Desegur, VP of customer experience engineering at WalmartLabs said, “We’re essentially creating a bridge where we are enhancing the shopping experience through machine learning. We want to make sure there is a seamless experience between what customers do online and what they do in our stores.”
While its arch nemesis in business may be Amazon.com, Walmart has the advantage of using the best of both worlds—with over 11,000 brick-and-mortar stores and its online experience—in its laboratory to develop retail tech that catapults sales and customer satisfaction. Walmart was an early adopter of RFID to track inventory and has a tech incubator called Store No. 8 in Silicon Valley to“incubate, invest in, and work with other startups, venture capitalists and academics to develop its own proprietary robotics, virtual and augmented reality, machine learning and artificial intelligence technology...” Full Story at Forbes