Walmart launches agentic AI shopping assistant

Walmart has launched an agentic AI shopping assistant for customers shopping on its app.

Called “Sparky”, the retail giant said that customers can use the tool across all product categories to help find items, access summarise reviews, and ask for insights about everything form finding the right item for a sporting event to picking the perfect toy.

The tool provides instant and comprehensive answers to product-related questions to help customers quickly understand specific features, compare items and make informed choices.

Walmart added that Sparky goes beyond product summaries, for example by allowing a customer to check the weather at a beach they plan to visit and get an outfit recommendation for the occasion.

With the shopping assistant still in development, Walmart said it will soon do even more, including personalising experiences for customers, automatically reordering household essentials, and booking services.

Walmart claims Sparky will be “multi-modal,” with the ability to understand text, images, audio and video.

As an example, the company said that Sparky could turn a question about meal ideas into a meal plan with ingredients automatically added to the basket.

The launch of Sparky follows the introduction of other AI tools, including a recently launched an AI-powered healthy eating platform designed to encourage its customers to eat healthier.

The tool allows customers to connect their online Walmart account to AI-driven insights to improve their wellbeing.

In February, Walmart also rolled out AI price forecasting technology to strengthen its supply chain and predict the price and availability of agricultural commodities, as well as provide price estimates for fresh produce.