Isabelle Bousquette, WSJ
Walmart is preparing for sweeping changes in the way consumers shop, investigating how to make products appealing not just to human consumers, but also to the AI agents that will one day shop on their behalf.
AI bots, able to perform tasks autonomously, have the potential to transform online shopping, completely bypassing traditional online search and promotional tricks aimed at attracting human beings.
“It will be different,” said Walmart U.S. Chief Technology Officer Hari Vasudev. “Advertising will have to evolve.”
Already AI has already changed the way consumers research products on search engines, with results now serving up AI-generated summaries. But the idea of shopping agents operating without human intervention is another thing entirely.
At some point in the future, shoppers will deploy an agent, like OpenAI’s Operator, and tell it they want to restock on groceries or buy a new flat-screen TV. Operator will then scan the internet and surface relevant products based on what it knows about the user’s preferences. Ultimately, agents will even be able to complete the purchase, including payment.
It’s a step change that will force retailers to rethink the way they advertise, describe their products online and even price them, said Robert Hetu, vice president analyst for retail at market research and consulting firm Gartner. And retailers risk losing control of the direct customer relationship if the checkout process moves from their own website to that of the third-party agent, like Operator or others to come.
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