Retail Giants Amazon and Walmart Use Autumn Event Expenditure as Guidance for Holiday Shopping Expenditure Insights
In a shift from traditional retail tactics, Walmart and Amazon are focusing on quiet, systemic improvements to remove friction from everyday shopping, as revealed by recent developments.
Walmart is leveraging AI technology to revolutionise its operations, from selling and planning to shipping and customer interactions. The American retail giant has developed AI-assisted distribution centres that utilise robotics and AI to optimise perishable goods delivery, improve inventory accuracy, and reduce food waste. This results in faster stocking of fresh products.
In addition, Walmart's AI-driven forecasting tools incorporate external factors such as weather and events to better predict demand and tailor pricing strategies. The company has also created AI 'super agents' to manage various internal tools and solve physical retail challenges such as stocking and cleaning.
In the e-commerce sphere, Walmart uses AI to simplify and personalise the online shopping experience, expanding product choices and maintaining low prices. The aim is to provide flexible, customer-centric shopping journeys across physical and digital platforms.
These AI capabilities strengthen Walmart's competitive edge in the current e-commerce environment by enhancing operational efficiency, reducing costs, and improving customer experiences.
On the other hand, Amazon is planning to hold its second Prime Day of the year in October. The purpose of this event is to stimulate mid-fall demand and test consumer confidence ahead of the holiday season. This move serves as a lever and a litmus test, helping Amazon measure consumer spending and preferences before committing to deeper holiday inventory bets.
However, unlike Walmart's focus on AI-driven infrastructure, Amazon's strategy remains centred on events like Prime Day to pull forward spending. The company's October Prime Day will put pressure on production facilities, which risk production hiccups, shipping delays, and inventory mishaps if they can't keep up with demand.
Retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, are facing unusually complex inventory planning due to inflation, tariffs, and vulnerable supply chains. Vista Huggins, a retail expert, points out that peak demand is not limited to the holiday shopping season and can be caused by viral TikTok videos or influencer posts.
The period from September to December is a stress test for the future of commerce due to delivery speed pressure, inventory planning costs, and unrelenting customer expectations for transparency. What matters to shoppers is whether the process of buying groceries, clothes, or a new phone case fits smoothly into their busy lives.
Frank Kenney, director of strategy at Cleo, stated that retailers are creating more mini-holidays to provide enough runway for consumers to justify purchases, such as a new TV, replacing a dying fridge, or buying gadgets. The company that consistently makes life easier for shoppers is the one that builds durable loyalty.
In conclusion, the scoreboard in the Amazon vs. Walmart saga will continue to tally revenue, profit margins, and market share, but for shoppers, these metrics are irrelevant. The retail giants that focus on quiet, systemic improvements to remove friction from everyday shopping will be the ones to build customer loyalty and thrive in the future.
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