Walmart has introduced a free Text to Shop functionality for iOS and Android consumers one year after testing the tool. This is according to Dominique Essig, vice president of Conversational Commerce at Store No. 8. Walmart’s retail business incubator, Store No. 8, debuted its maiden endeavor in 2017.
The Text to Shop feature is linked to a user’s Walmart account and is aware of the customer’s regular purchases. Customers can text the name of a generic product, like “cereal,” and the retailer will provide information on the brand and type that is ordinarily ordered to the user’s cart, allowing them to swap it out, alter the quantity, or remove it.
Customers can check out their carts through the Walmart app or the text messaging service Text to Shop at Walmart. Additionally, customers can use delivery or plan a time for pickup.
Text to shop feature is targeting all Walmart customers unlike Jetblack
Although Walmart’s Text to Shop is a brand-new product, it isn’t the company’s first effort into text-based shopping.
The company started trial testing a more expensive service dubbed Jetblack in 2018. The text-based help and shopping service targeted busy, affluent city dwellers. Customers were able to text queries and requests to Jetblack after being onboarded with an initial 10-minute phone call and possibly a home visit to further personalize the experience. These requests and questions could range from support for gift ideas to placing ordinary housekeeping items. For the service, a combination of human and artificial intelligence was used.
Walmart, however, terminated the service in 2020. A spokeswoman for Walmart at the time stated that this was done as part of an effort to transition the service from an “incubation” stage to Walmart’s larger company. The representative stated that after it was discontinued, it would concentrate on expanding the idea.
Walmart’s Text to Shop program seems to be delivering on that promise two years later.
The newly introduced functionality targets all Walmart customers who have accounts rather than just those with higher incomes.
Essig of Walmart said in a statement, “We know that finding opportunities to slow down and live in the moment is a priority for busy families and young professionals. That was the impetus behind Text to Shop.”
The big picture
More consumers are using their phones to interact with brands, which is causing mobile commerce to develop further. According to Adobe Analytics, 55% of online purchases made on Thanksgiving Day last month were made on a mobile device. This was a record high, up 8.3% from the previous year. Another milestone was reached on Black Friday, when mobile commerce accounted for 48% of internet sales, up from 44% in 2021.