Walmart is using artificial intelligence to help customers and personal shoppers choose the best substitute for an out-of-stock item, said Srini Venkatesan, executive vice president, Walmart Global Tech, in a company blog post.
“Last year, amidst the pandemic, Americans’ shopping behavior shifted radically,” said Venkatesan. “Customers increasingly began shopping online for everyday needs, including food and groceries. That surge in demand was a boon for online grocers, but it also presented a unique challenge to retailers as the combination of in-store shoppers and online volume meant some popular items could quickly sell out.”
“The decision on how to substitute is complex and highly personal to each customer. If the wrong choice is made, it can negatively impact customer satisfaction and increase costs. In the past, our Personal Shoppers would go through a manual process to determine the best way to manage a substitution. But there are nearly 100 different factors that can go into that decision. Trying to account for all of these would not only be too difficult, but it would also be incredibly time consuming.”
According to Venkatesan, Walmart created technology that uses deep learning AI to consider hundreds of variables—including size, type, brand, price, aggregate shopper data, individual customer preference, and current inventory—in real time to determine the best next available item.
“It then preemptively asks the customer to approve the substituted item or let us know they don’t want it, an important signal that’s fed back into our learning algorithms to improve the accuracy of future recommendations,” he explained.
The solution is also designed to make employees’ jobs easier, too, said Venkatesan.
“Instead of having to guess, a personal shopper can be told precisely what the customer may prefer. If they are preparing orders and come across an item that is not available, our system suggests the alternative product. Our tech even shows where the item is located in the store, simplifying the decision-making process for our team and enabling them to prepare orders quickly and efficiently.”
Following the deployment of this technology, customer acceptance of substitutions has increased to over 95 percent, said Venkatesan.
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