US retailer Walmart has developed a GenAI-powered assistant to streamline merchandising tasks.
Built on Walmart’s proprietary data, the AI assistant known as “Wally” automates a variety of time-consuming processes, including:
- Data entry and analysis – instantly generating insights from complex datasets.
- Root cause identification – diagnosing why certain products are under- or overperforming.
- How-to support – answering operational questions and raising tickets for unresolved issues.
- Advanced calculations – automating complex formulas and predictions.
By automating time-consuming tasks and providing actionable insights, Wally enables merchants to focus on strategic, creative and innovative activities that enhance customer experiences and meet evolving customer expectations.
Building an AI assistant for merchandising wasn’t straightforward. Unlike traditional AI models trained on broadly available data, Walmart’s merchandising business has specific needs.
To bridge this gap, Walmart built a semantic layer, enabling Wally to understand the intricacies of its proprietary data. Wally is said to handle and processes large volumes of product data efficiently through advanced algorithms and a robust computational infrastructure.
Prioritising usability, Wally is designed to be intuitive, requiring no technical training. Merchants can simply ask questions and receive actionable insights in seconds.
“With AI removing the friction of manual reporting, our merchants can focus on what they do best: delivering the right products to customers, at the right time, and with greater efficiency than ever before,” Walmart said on its website.
“Walmart merchants’ response to Wally has been overwhelmingly positive, but we’re just getting started.
“We’ll continuously improve the tool – guided by the feedback and needs of Walmart merchants – ultimately enabling it to act autonomously on the merchant’s behalf within configurable guardrails, executing tactical actions necessary to bring their strategy to life.”