What: Walmart has introduced a suite of AI-driven features—including in-store savings, AR shopping, and digital party planning—to enhance customer convenience and engagement both online and in stores.

Why it is important: By integrating advanced AI and AR capabilities, Walmart is redefining the holiday shopping journey and raising consumer expectations for both online and in-store retail.

Walmart is transforming the holiday shopping experience with a comprehensive rollout of AI-powered tools designed to make gift-giving faster, easier, and more personalized. The retailer’s latest features include an in-store savings tool that highlights local deals, enhanced search and navigation for real-time product availability, and wish list management that organizes shopping trips by aisle. AI-driven innovations such as the Sparky digital assistant for party planning, audio summaries of product reviews, and immersive AR-powered 3D shopping scenes further elevate the customer journey, blending convenience with inspiration. Walmart’s partnership with ChatGPT enables contextual, multimedia, and conversational commerce, moving beyond traditional search bars to proactive, agentic shopping experiences. Data shows that app users spend 25% more per trip, underscoring the commercial impact of digital engagement and personalization. As these technologies become central to both online and physical retail, Walmart is setting a new standard for customer experience and intensifying competition across the sector.

IADS Notes: Walmart’s launch of AI-powered shopping tools and its landmark partnership with OpenAI in October 2025 mark a pivotal shift in retail, as the company moves beyond traditional search bars to embrace personalized, conversational, and agentic commerce (Retail Week, October 2025; Retail Dive, October 2025). This strategic alliance exemplifies the sector’s broader pivot toward AI-driven innovation, with major retailers racing to adopt generative AI solutions that transform product discovery, customer engagement, and operational efficiency. Walmart’s integration of features such as Instant Checkout within ChatGPT, hyper-personalization, AR/VR, and AI-powered party planning reflects the industry’s rapid evolution toward seamless, multimedia, and predictive shopping experiences (Inside Retail, March 2025; The Robin Report, December 2024). These developments are driving measurable commercial impact, with digital engagement and AI-driven personalization contributing to record-breaking results, increased e-commerce penetration, and higher average spend among app users (WWD, February and November 2025). The competitive landscape is intensifying as retailers like Nordstrom also invest in digital innovation for the holiday season, underscoring the urgency for robust digital adaptation and strategic tech partnerships to remain relevant and capture consumer attention in an AI-first retail environment.

Walmart Rolls Out New AI Tools