In a changing shopping world, Walmart is using technology in its holiday outreach to consumers, one that even uses facial expressions to facilitate browsing for purchases and gifts, Kara Rousseau, vp/marketing, Walmart Connect, revealed in a blog post.
The Facebook deal is part of a campaign Walmart dubbed Joy. Fully developed to help customers “lean into” the things they missed last year and celebrate being fully present this holiday, Rousseau stated, adding that after last year’s lockdowns, customers are putting their whole selves into making the holidays as magical as possible in 2021.
In support of the campaign, Walmart has partnered with Facebook to launch a first-to-market AR lens retail function. With it, consumers can browse holiday gift ideas from brands like Google, Nintendo, The LEGO Group, Samsung and Straight Talk Wireless, and use nothing but their facial expressions to identify which products they like. Then, directly from the AR lens, customers can visit Walmart’s Gift Finder experience to shop those products and more, which can make the holiday research and shopping experience fun by combining the best of facial-recognition AR with Walmart’s broad product assortment, Rousseau asserted.
In a Walmart Direct study, 66% of Walmart shoppers said they would be more thoughtful about the gifts they give this holiday season, while 67% plan to cook more meals from scratch to celebrate the year-end festivities.
Over the past year, Rousseau noted, Walmart has tested different forms of content-to-commerce that can give customers new ways to engage with the operation and now plans a series of on- and off-platform shoppable livestreams with various publishers, well-known influencers and others.
Walmart also has created shoppable recipes to run across social media platforms. On Pinterest, for example, Walmart has co-created innovative content for the first large-scale launch of shoppable recipes with supplier partners including General Mills, Kraft and PepsiCo. customers will be able to directly add ingredients directly from the recipes to their Walmart cart and purchase in just a few clicks. Through the exclusive Pinterest Trend Badge program, which taps into high-growth searches and provides an official Pinterest stamp of approval, Walmart Connect is promoting the shoppable recipes to inspire pinners with the most relevant and of-the-moment seasonal ideas, such as easy bite-size desserts, which are up 462% year over year, Rousseau maintained.
