Walmart, Google join forces in voice-activation market
NEW YORK — Walmart is diving into voice-activated shopping. But unlike online leader Amazon, it’s not doing it alone.
Bentonville, Ark.-based WalMart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said yesterday it is working with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items from laundry detergent to Legos for voice shopping through Google Assistant. The capability will be available in late September.
It is Google’s biggest retail partnership — and the most personalized shopping experience it offers — as it tries to broaden the reach of its voice-activated assistant Home speaker. And it underscores Walmart’s drive to compete in an area dominated by Amazon’s Alexa-powered Echo device.
“Voice shopping is becoming a more important part of everyday shopping behavior,” said Marc Lore, CEO of Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce business.
The voice-activated devices are becoming more mainstream as they become more accessible. Even Apple has one coming out this year. Walmart has said Google’s investment in natural language processing and artificial intelligence will help make voice-activated shopping more popular.
And Lore said the personalization of the partnership means people can shout out generic items like milk, bread and cheese, and Google Assistant will know exactly the brands and the size that the user wants.
Google introduced shopping to Home in February, letting people use voice to order essentials from more than 40 retailers like Target and Costco under its Google Express program. Walmart, which posted fiscal 2017 sales of more than $485 billion, has more stores than any other retailer and the largest share of the U.S. grocery market, and is working hard to close the gulf online between itself and Amazon.
Shares of Walmart closed yesterday at $79.96, down 6 cents. They have risen more than 18 percent so far this year.
Shares of Alphabet Inc., parent company of Google, closed yesterday at $927, up $2.31. They’ve advanced more than 20 percent since the start of this year.