ChatGPT appeared like a butterfly flapping its wings on the other side of the ocean, and at first no one expected it to cause such a big storm. When ChatGPT broke into the retail world without warning, more and more companies began to marvel at the huge role it played, including the world’s largest supermarket chain and one of the largest companies, Walmart.
On October 16, Walmart announced on its official website that it had created three generative AI shopping assistants through its own massive data and the fine-tuning of a third-party large language model. It will be tested on the e-commerce platform to help users improve their shopping experience and improve efficiency.
Walmart launches 3 AI assistants
Shopping Assistant: Provides detailed and personalized shopping suggestions based on the user’s text questions. For example, I want to buy a mobile phone for a 12 year old, what are the suggestions? The shopping assistant lists detailed recommendations for parental control features, durability, price, ease of use, educational apps, and more.
Then the products that meet the standards on Walmart’s e-commerce platform will be listed, and users can ask for more detailed information based on the intended products.
Search Assistant: Can integrate tedious shopping search. In the past, when we wanted to hold a Halloween party, we had to search for streamers, balloons, tissues, plates, food, drinks, etc.
Now, by searching for Assistant, just type in “I want to have a Halloween party, can you help me see what I need to get?” Can complete all items search with one click, also support multiple rounds of depth continuous questioning.
Review Assistant: When you select a cup on Walmart’s e-commerce platform, the review assistant can quickly screen out the best reviews of past use experience to provide shopping decisions, and can also simplify long reviews to provide key summaries.
In addition, a month ago, Walmart announced that 50,000 employees will be equipped with a generative AI assistant to help them draft emails, summarize content, generate creative content, etc., to improve productivity and save time.
At present, Walmart, from internal employees to external e-commerce, is actively embracing generative AI in a comprehensive way to consolidate its position as an innovation leader in the field of e-commerce.
Comparison between SocialHub.AI and Walmart AI
SocialHub.AI is a powerful AI-Agents based on Customer Loyalty Mangement, an integrated solution combining large language model and retail digitalization needs. This solution has been successfully applied in the stores of a well-known restaurant brand in Indonesia to provide personalized service to consumers.
SocialHub.AI and Walmart AI, each with its own characteristics. If we compare them, we can find that SocialHub.AI focuses more on the “GPT private domain manager” of brand owners, which is committed to enhancing brand loyalty and tapping consumer demand. Walmart AI is focused on providing consumers with “GPT Shopping Assistant” to help customers quickly find the goods they need and guide them to complete the purchase.
In terms of product functions, SocialHub.AI has unique loyalty engine capabilities such as member registration, member rights and member care, which is unmatched by Walmart AI. In addition, SocialHub.AI also has a better brand knowledge system and user profile and behavior data, so that it can manage customers in a more automated and precise way, thus expanding the management radius.
Based on AISAS consumer behavior process model, the two functions have the following differences：
It can be seen that in addition to intelligent shopping guides, SocialHub.AI can also support innovative GPT applications such as AI data analysis and AI EDM. Based on AI’s comprehensive and real-time historical data insight, brand marketing personnel can interactively generate the desired analysis report or email content, which is convenient to help brands develop, output and execute more accurate marketing strategies, so as to better meet the business needs of physical retail.
In the service channel, Walmart AI’s service channel is mainly its Web shopping page, which aims to help people “buy” more efficiently. The use of SocialHub.AI runs through the retail business flow. Open up multiple touch points such as Google, EDM, WhatsApp, website &APP to fully tap the lifetime value of users, and then build a DTC domain moat.
The so-called tool is not good or bad, only whether it is suitable. However, in the face of endless AI applications, retailers should remain sober, comprehensively analyze the differences in the application of various products and their own business conditions, and reasonably choose and use tools suitable for themselves. Reduce unnecessary input while improving work efficiency.
At present, the application of GPT shopping assistant is not only Walmart, but also similar products have been launched on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Taobao and Shoppy. The application of GPT as a shopping guide in the e-commerce web page has been finalized, but the application of GPT in retail is more than that.
Nina, product manager of Techsun, said that in the future, there will be the possibility that GPT shopping guide may eventually evolve into GPT e-commerce. In addition to the web side, GPT e-commerce is expected to achieve seamless cross-platform, cross-category, cross-scene connection. It can be combined with mobile social software to realize the upgrade of social e-commerce; It can also be combined with smart devices to achieve voice control and interactive shopping. Because the needs of users are not only the needs of points, but also need comprehensive solutions. At present, the exploration of SocialHub.AI in this field has far exceeded the above e-commerce platforms.
For example, in terms of travel scenarios, in the past, consumers may need to first consult the travel guide in Red, book tickets and hotels in Ctrip according to the schedule, plan the route of sightseeing attractions, purchase food coupons in the group on Meituan, and purchase travel items in advance on Taobao Tmall. These may take a lot of time to prepare, and repeatedly search and compare on various platforms. Finalize the plan.
With the ability of ChatGPT, consumers may only need to enter the travel destination, as well as the budget and time, etc., they can quickly obtain several different travel plans, choose a suitable travel plan, and buy all the relevant tickets, tickets and other things needed in a one-stop shop, greatly improving the consumer travel experience.
The rapid development of ChatGPT has made all walks of life feel that “tools are improving”, and even some people have shouted “The future has arrived”, but this is still just the beginning. More technological innovation and application scenarios will continue to emerge, and the good play will gradually play out, let’s wait and see.
