Later this month, customers of Walmart can now use Google Assistant to order groceries for pickup and home delivery.
In an article published by CNBC, it is said that the retail giant will be activating the voice-command option powered by Google Assistant.
Walmart US Senior Vice President Tom Ward said, “We’re kicking off the work with Google, adding others to the mix as time goes on.”
When asked about what customers can do using the Google Assistant, Ward said, “Customers can be extra confident that we can quickly and accurately identify the items they are asking for with the help of information from their prior purchases with us. Customers can manage their shopping carts while they’re at home or on the go.”
Partnership with Google started back in 2017 but this time, the two companies are expanding and evolving technologies to compete with Whole Foods.
Walmart’s contender, Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon in 2017 and last year, the retail company introduced voice shopping with Amazon’s voice service Alexa. Although Amazon has a great customer base for tech and has an edge when it comes to smart speaker market, Google Assistant has an advantage when it comes to Android phones.
Meanwhile, Google still has so many plans for the voice command option, partnering with Target for voice-activated coupons. When customers need to shop to Target, they can simply utter ‘Spring in to Target.’
America’s retail landscape
Surveys still indicate that Americans still prefer to shop on a physical store rather than on a smart speaker. In an article published by Vox, it is stated that “Not even 1 per cent of Americans said they would rather shop on a smart speaker.”
This only means that even though companies are investing millions of money on technology, people are yet to jump on the trend and actually choose internet-based grocery shopping.
