Walmart enhances shopping experience with new mobile apps
SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Walmart is looking to offer shoppers ways to access Walmart both in-store and online with the launch of new mobile applications for iPhone and iPad devices.
Walmart said the free apps are the first of several mobile products to be rolled out from the recently formed @WalmartLabs group under Walmart's global e-commerce unit.
The updated iPhone app includes such new features as:
Voice: Users can add items to shopping list by speaking, typing or scanning bar codes;
Budgeting tools: Users can calculate total price in real-time as specific items are added to mobile shopping lists;
Manufacturers' coupons: Users can view applicable manufacturer coupons for products carried in local Walmart stores;
Product information: Users can gain access product details, including customer ratings and reviews, as well as local product availability and prices;
Sharing: Users can email shopping list to friends and family; and
Store Item Finder beta: This feature will display in-store aisle location of products in select stores across the country.
Meanwhile, the new iPad app features the following attributes:
Touch-optimized shopping: Users can browse, search and purchase favorite items by combining traditional ways of shopping with the unique capabilities of the iPad;
Browse My Store: Users can select any local Walmart store to see product availability and detailed information specific to that store; and
Extended inventory: Users can shop and purchase Walmart.com merchandise, in addition to viewing local store inventory.
"Today, mobile allows us to have a similar personal relationship with our customers that Sam Walton had with his customers 50 years ago when he opened the first Walmart store," Walmart SVP mobile and digital Giby Thomas said. "We can greet each of our customers by name, guide them through our stores, and give them product recommendations and real-time savings — all from their mobile devices."