Late last month, Walmart announced it would begin offering several of its own technologies and capabilities to other businesses and brands, who are “seeking to better serve (their) customers as they increasingly shop across digital and physical storefronts.”
As part of this effort, Walmart also announced a strategic partnership with Adobe to integrate Walmart’s Marketplace, online and in-store fulfillment, and pickup technologies with Adobe Commerce, a “commerce solution for merchants and brands.”
A&G Editor in Chief George Paras suggested that partnerships, like the one Walmart announced, can “sometimes enable the path to digital transformation.”
Paras conceded that Walmart hopes the partnership will help it “attract new sellers to its marketplace.” But while Walmart will benefit, so might the small businesses. Walmart, through its partnership with Adobe, is “bringing new digital capabilities to merchants interested in enabling more seamless engagement with their customers.”
John Furner, Chief Executive Officer of Walmart U.S. noted his employer has “built new capabilities to serve the evolving needs of our own customers, and we have a unique opportunity to use our experience to help other businesses do the same. Commercializing our technologies and capabilities helps us sustainably reinvest back into our customer value proposition.”
Through the Adobe Commerce platform, retail businesses will be able to use Walmart’s cloud-based services to offer seamless pickup and delivery to their customers. Businesses will be able to reach new customers on Walmart’s Marketplace where they can leverage Walmart’s Fulfillment Services to offer 2-day shipping nationwide. The partnership with Adobe to offer these capabilities “will help businesses of all sizes improve their customer experience while operating more efficiently, according to Walmart.
“The core mission of helping people save money and live better is at the heart of every idea including Scan & Go and checkout technologies, AI-powered smart substitutions and pickup and delivery,” said Suresh Kumar, chief technology officer and chief development officer of Walmart Inc. “Combining Adobe’s strength in powering commerce experiences with our unmatched omni-customer expertise, we can accelerate other companies’ digital transformations.”
“We’re excited to collaborate with Walmart to help Adobe merchants expand their businesses to new channels and offer shopping experiences that increase their competitiveness and fit well with shifting consumer behaviors in an increasingly digital economy,” said Anil Chakravarthy, executive vice president and general manager, Digital Experience Business and Worldwide Field Operations at Adobe.
