Walmart joins forces with Google on voice-activated online shopping
NEW YORK — Walmart is diving into voice-activated online shopping. But unlike online leader Amazon, it’s not doing it alone.
The world’s largest retailer said Wednesday it’s 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’s 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. ecommerce business.
And Lore said the personalization of the partnership means people can shout out generic items such as 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 such as Target and Costco under Google Express. But that was far behind the Echo, available since late 2014.
Walmart, which has the largest share of the grocery market, is working to close the online between itself Amazon.
To be more competitive with Amazon, Google Express was scrapping the $95-a-year membership starting Wednesday, allowing shoppers to get free delivery within one to three days on orders as long as the purchase is above each store’s minimum. Walmart is integrating its Easy Reorder feature into Google Express. U.S. also gulf and