Dive Brief:
- Walmart is using generative AI to improve the data quality of its product catalog in pursuit of CX benefits for its customers and associates, executives said on a Q2 2025 earnings call Thursday.
- Cleaner data can help associates find specific products by quickly accessing images of packaging. Customers using Walmart’s AI assistant will soon receive follow-up answers to their queries that will help them find the right item, according to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon.
- “We're finding tangible ways to leverage generative AI to improve the customer, member and associate experience,” McMillon said during the call.
Dive Insight:
Generative AI has found a home at the center of Walmart’s customer experience efforts. Better data crunching capabilities are improving the behind-the-scenes operations that fuel experiences in-store and online.
“The quality of the data in our catalog affects nearly everything we do, from helping customers find and buy what they're looking for, to how we store inventory in the network, to delivering orders,” McMillon said during the call.
Walmart used large language models to create or improve more than 850 million pieces of data across its product catalog. Without generative AI, the process would have required 100 times the head count to complete in the same amount of time, executives said.
The primary in-store improvement is that associates’ can use in-store technology like mobile tools to quickly locate inventory and get items on shelves or to waiting customers — a significant upgrade from the “treasure hunt” of finding items in years past, according to John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S.
Generative AI is improving e-commerce customer experience as well.
Walmart’s AI tools can combine customer intent data with improved product data to present customers with items that match their needs, according to Furner. AI improves the details on product display pages as well, helping customers determine whether a given product is what they need.
Better search functions will continue to streamline digital experiences as Walmart’s online assortment grows.
“As the assortment has expanded, our ability to show those items in a very high quality way, using new tools like generative AI and improving our search, has enabled us to better understand what customers are looking for by season, by session, by time of week,” Furner said.
Walmart is focusing on perfect orders, which measure if customers can find the products they want online and whether they are delivered on time and in good condition.
Perfect orders are key to eliminating friction and improving the customer experience scores of Walmart Plus customers, according to Furner. Free delivery is one of the loyalty program’s core perks, and better order fulfillment helped fuel double-digit growth in Walmart Plus memberships during the quarter.
