Walmart Embraces AI Agents That Shop on Behalf of Customers

Walmart is opening the door to agents that shop on customers' behalf, a month after Amazon blocked Meta's Muse AI assistant from doing the same. The retailer is making it easier for agents to connect with its ecommerce platform via a dedicated portal. Walmart is also launching a feature for consumers to control how AI agents shop for them, including purchase approvals and spending limits. Within the next month, Walmart will launch Agent Profiles, where shoppers can authorize each AI agent they use with a dedicated profile within their account, allowing them to see their agent's purchases separately from their own. Currently, if a customer has an AI agent shop for them, it signs in using a customer's account. Additionally, shoppers can require approval for purchases or give permission for their AI assistant to make purchases within a given spending limit. Walmart is launching a beta program for Walmart Agent Gateway, which uses an MCP, or model context protocol, to give agents a faster, more reliable way to shop than using the version of Walmart's website built for shoppers. It will also help agents shop for a customer's usual items without sharing personal information or purchase history. Along with these new initiatives, Walmart has established rules for what agents can and can't do when shopping for a customer. For example, Walmart's returns process still applies, customers must approve agent purchases by default, agents cannot do more than what the shopper intends, and agents don't receive customer payment card information. Agents that don't follow Walmart's terms will be blocked from the retailer's site. "As customers begin using agents to help them shop, we’re building connections, permissions and options that complement those tools and support how customers want to use them," the company wrote in a blog post. Advertising implications from AI-driven shopping Advertisers and third-party sellers will have to change their business approach for this new AI-driven era of retail, according to Walmart advertising and marketplace executives. Ryan Mayward, gm and svp of the Walmart Connect advertising business, said that as Walmart prepares for a future where customers can choose to shop with AI agents, there are new questions about what discovery looks like in conversational shopping. "A few keywords tell us what someone is searching for," Mayward said in a statement. "A conversation can tell us what they're trying to accomplish, what matters to them and what might actually help. That gives brands another way to introduce products customers may not have known they needed." Mayward added that brands will have to change how they earn attention. "The opportunity is to be relevant to what a customer is trying to accomplish, not just what they're searching for," he said. "Commerce media has a big role to play here. We can help connect brands with these new moments of discovery and give them a clearer picture of what's actually driving sales." Rich Lehrfeld, svp of Walmart Connect International and Sam’s Club Connect, said that while great advertising introduces people to products and brands they might not have found on their own, agents could do so in the way of friends who know their taste—knowing specific preferences and interests. "While shopping habits differ across countries and cultures, some things are universal. People want choice. They trust recommendations from sources they know. And they love finding something that's just right for them," Lehrfeld said in a statement. "The technology behind discovery will keep changing. The human reasons we discover won't." On the marketplace side, Walmart is working with third-party sellers to prepare them for this new way of shopping, said Manish Joneja, svp of Walmart's global marketplace business. "Accurate product information, competitive prices, availability, and reliable delivery promises become even more important," Joneja said, adding that Walmart is "helping them strengthen their listings, improve their catalog quality and make their products easier for AI-powered shopping experiences to understand and recommend."

Retail News

Walmart Embraces AI Agents That Shop on Behalf of Customers

The retailer is setting the rules AI shopping agents will have to follow

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Mitchell Parton

Commerce

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