Walmart keeps up with trends using generative AI
Walmart Inc. is introducing a new proprietary artificial intelligence solution created to help designers and merchants stay on trend.
Known as Trend-to-Product, the tool uses AI and generative AI to analyze and synthesize global data and trends, pulling information from the Internet and influencers to help its fashion team create affordable on-trend products in six to eight weeks from first identifying a trend.
Walmart intends to reduce the time involved in designing and producing a collection of clothing from ideation and concepting to the time items end up in stores and online. While this normally takes six months of human research, the retailer says Trend-to-Product uses AI to take the research and design phase from weeks to minutes and then leverages generative AI to create mood boards with collection names, colors, textures and ideas.
Designers and merchants then refine the mood boards, look at sell-through data and create the final pieces that will form the collection. In the final step, Trend-to-Product generates a fashion tech pack for the collection, which instructs suppliers on exactly how to make each item.
"Trend-to-Product empowers our private brand design and product development associates to spend less time chasing trends and more time doing what they love most – creating and delivering high quality, on-trend items for our customers for every season and occasion," said Jen Jackson Brown, senior VP for apparel brand and design in Walmart U.S. "We are excited by the early results of this new technology and the power it could have to transform the way we operate and serve our customers."
Walmart is exploring the possibility of utilizing Trend-to-Product in categories beyond fashion, as well as continuing to increase its speed. The solution follows the recent rollout of "Wally," a generative tool Walmart built on its proprietary data to automate a variety of time-consuming processes, including data entry and analysis, diagnosing why certain products are under- or overperforming, answering operational questions and raising tickets for unresolved issues; and automating complex formulas and predictions.
"Walmart has continued to invest in cutting-edge AI and generative AI technologies to make the lives of our customers, members and associates easier," said Vinod Bidarkoppa, executive VP and CTO at Walmart International. "Trend-to-Product is the latest example of how these technologies drive optimization, and when combined, can revolutionize an entire business line or industry. This innovation underscores our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what's possible, ensuring that our customers always have access to the latest trends at the best prices."
Walmart provides internal tools to generative AI developers
Walmart recently unveiled a strategy to accelerate what it calls "adaptive retail," defined as "profoundly personal experiences that brings shopping to customers in exactly the ways they want and need" via AI, particularly generative AI.
[READ MORE: Walmart will personalize customer experience with generative AI]
To further support these efforts Walmart, which has also provided employees with the Walmart GenAI Playground, an early-stage internal tool where they can explore and learn about the technology, since June 2023, is enabling AI development within the company through a number of proprietary developer experience (DX) solutions.
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.
