Walmart To Sell Its E-commerce Technologies To Other Retailers (techcrunch.com) 23
Walmart's investments in software and retail technologies it used to transform its business from a brick-and-mortar to one that combines both in-person and online shopping will now be made available to other retailers for the first time, the company announced today. From a report: Through a strategic partnership with Adobe, Walmart will integrate access to Walmart's Marketplace, as well as its various online and in-store fulfillment and pickup technologies, into the Adobe Commerce Platform. The technologies will be made available to both Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source customers, Adobe says.
The deal will allow Walmart to potentially reach thousands of small to mid-sized retailers, who will effectively be able to tap into the same tools that one of the largest global retailers is using to run their business. Through the partnership, Adobe retail customers will be able to do things like show store pickup eligibility and available pickup times online; offer multiple pickup options like curbside and in-store pickup; provide their store associates with mobile tools to pick for orders, validate item selections and handle substitutions; and use tools to communicate with customers about their pickup orders, like those where customers can alert store associates of their ETA or arrival for curbside pickup. Another aspect of the partnership will allow retailers to syndicate and sell their products across Walmart's Marketplace.
The deal will allow Walmart to potentially reach thousands of small to mid-sized retailers, who will effectively be able to tap into the same tools that one of the largest global retailers is using to run their business. Through the partnership, Adobe retail customers will be able to do things like show store pickup eligibility and available pickup times online; offer multiple pickup options like curbside and in-store pickup; provide their store associates with mobile tools to pick for orders, validate item selections and handle substitutions; and use tools to communicate with customers about their pickup orders, like those where customers can alert store associates of their ETA or arrival for curbside pickup. Another aspect of the partnership will allow retailers to syndicate and sell their products across Walmart's Marketplace.
Taking a cue from Amazon (Score:2)
Looks like Walmart got wise that Amazon was making a whole lot more money on AWS then they ever did on retail. It's a nice trick, turning what was once a cost center into a profitable enterprise. I'm surprised it took them this long.
Re: Taking a cue from Amazon (Score:2)
Walmart is enhancing their existing affiliate sales offering and expanding it to support third-party retail stores.
For example, say you have a small book store. You upload your store inventory into the Walmart servers, and you indicate which items are ship able, available for pick up, etc. then your online sales are managed by Walmart servers but fulfilled by you - no storage fees, handling fees, etc.
It's a competitor to the Amazon affiliate program, not AWS, their cloud service.
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Yes, but Adobe? No thank you, I still have nightmares.
Is it just me? (Score:4, Insightful)
Is it just me or is the walmart online shopping experience not very good?
I can't figure out if it's the plane jane design of the walmart website, or the sketchy 3rd party marketplace products, or something else about the experience that I can't quite put my finger on. But whatever it happens to be, shopping on Amazon feels trustworthy whereas shopping on the walmart website feels very low budget.
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The phrase you are looking for is "every expense was spared".
There are venues that offer a luxury shopping experience [wikimedia.org], but even *pretending* to be like that would actually undermine Walmart's market positioning. Walmart is designed to make you think you're getting the cheapest possible price on the things you buy.
Which should come as no surprise is something of an illusion, but that's all the more important not to break the spell.
Re:Is it just me? (Score:4, Funny)
Yes Walmart's site really does give you that experiences of walking around cheap white commercial tile floor under poor florescent light; while you wonder "why does it smell so funny in here?" right from the comfort of your own home!
Really its designers deserve a Webby award or 10 when you consider the remarkably evocative sensory experience they deliver using such a limited medium. I hear if you have actual florescent lights and an old CRT with a crappy refresh rate set to 800x600 its even more visceral but it still hits most of the right notes on Retina MacBook even under natural light!
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That isn't surprising - I mean this Walmart we are talking about. Their stores don't know what actual inventory they have!
Real Conversation {anonymized a bit for Internet}
The scene opens with my looking at the floor sample of $Item
Me: Hey there I would like one of these, could you help me?
Associate1: Oh I was walking by here this isn't my department
Me: Okay, I don't see anyone else around could you call someone who can help me?
Associate1: (Shouting multiple times): Hey $Associate2 got a customer over here
As
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Even Home Depot or Lowes makes it difficult to see the actual inventory. Not as bad as Walmart, but still.. its BS.
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Is it just me or is the walmart online shopping experience not very good?
It's like a design requirement was to make it worse than the in-person experience.
Ever try Site-to-Store? It's the worst of both worlds! Wait a week and then stand in line to pick up your sketchy 3rd party marketplace product.
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It's not just you. All the "big box" types seem to suck ass in the same way.
When I search for something that might be in a local store, I don't care if you can have it delivered to the home. I don't care if you can have it delivered to the store for free. I hate it when they list stuff that is not actually available. All I want to know is, does a store within a 20-mile radius have this item?
NOT ONE of the usual asshats can do this simple task. I would like to be able to shop with actually useful information
Walmart's online store is terrible (Score:2)
Layout is amateur, search results suck, filters are incomplete, prices are higher than Amazon.
What's not to like?
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Lots of companies have horrible online stores. Until Walmart started flooding with their marketplace they were one of the better ones.
I wonder if they even know they suck?
Adobe huh? (Score:2)
I look forward to hearing about all the massive security holes that come from Adobe's "platform"
I can't wait to see the reactions. (Score:2)
Yay! A competitor to Amazon! That'll show Bezos!
Boo! It's that hated villain, Walmart. That's not what I meant when complained Amazon is a monopoly!
now a win (Score:2)
I've tried to buy from Warlmart online... (Score:2)
IMHO Walmart has really missed the bus, and provides very little competition for Amazon.
Big leap from "works for us" to "works for others" (Score:3)
I've seen this kind of thinking many times. A big company builds an in-house system that they think is really cool. Some executive thinks it's so good they should sell the software to others. After all, it works for us, it should work for others too!
What they don't realize is that developing software for others to use, is a very different endeavor from building software that works for in-house use. The standards are higher, the needs of users vary more widely, the technical competence of users tends to be lower.
If you're a good cook, you might think it's a small step to run a successful restaurant. It's not. The two endeavors are very different, for many of the same reasons.
If your a business, you should decide who you are, and focus on being good at that. If you're a store, focus on being the best store you can be. If you're a software company, focus on being the best software company you can be. Don't try to mix the two.
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