{ “title”: “Walmart Unveils AI Assistant ‘Wally’ to Streamline Product Sourcing”, “description”: “Walmart has introduced “Wally,” a generative AI assistant designed to aid its merchants in sourcing products for both online and in-store sales, enhancing efficiency and data analysis.”, “tags”: “AI, artificial intelligence, retail, Walmart, GenAI, product sourcing”, “rewritten_content”: “## Walmart Launches AI Assistant to Boost Product Sourcing
Walmart is leveraging generative artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its product sourcing operations. The company has developed a new AI-powered assistant named “Wally” to help its merchants navigate the complexities of item selection for both the retail giant’s physical stores and its online platform. The announcement was made in a blog post on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
“Wally” is designed to extract insights from large and intricate datasets. The program serves to analyze product performance, diagnosing why certain items may be underperforming or exceeding expectations. It can answer operational inquiries, generate tickets for unresolved issues, and automate complex formulas and predictions. The goal is to provide merchants with quick, actionable insights.
“Merchants can simply ask questions and receive actionable insights in seconds,” the blog post stated. “With AI removing the friction of manual reporting, our merchants can focus on what they do best: delivering the right products to customers, at the right time, and with greater efficiency than ever before.”
The company is not alone in adopting these technologies. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon noted in August that the retailer is also using generative AI to refine its product catalog, improve search functionalities, roll out a new shopping assistant, and support its marketplace sellers.
“We’re finding tangible ways to leverage generative AI to improve the customer, member and associate experience,” McMillon said during an Aug. 15 earnings call. “We’re leveraging data and large language models from others and building our own.”
In the broader consumer and retail markets, 77% of business leaders identify GenAI as the most significant emerging technology, the PYMNTS Intelligence and AI-ID collaboration “What Generative AI Has in Store for the Retail Industry” indicated. Data from December indicated that AI’s role in retail evolved from an experimental tool to an essential element in 2024. Retailers are deploying the technology for various uses, including inventory management and virtual shopping experiences. ” }
