US retail giant Walmart has unveiled Sparky, a genAI (generative AI)-powered assistant designed to improve the shopping experience.
Sparky compiles customer reviews, provides suggestions tailored to specific events and assists shoppers in organising, evaluating and making informed purchases. It is designed to remove the guesswork from shopping by answering product questions and comparing options.
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The retailer stated: “Within the Sparky platform, a customer can ask what sports teams are playing that night or check the weather at the beach they’re heading to — and get the perfect outfit recommended.”
The assistant is set to become a multi-modal platform, understanding different forms of input to customise the shopping experience. The company states that it will “seamlessly [weave] into customers’ lives to unlock instant access to the products and services they need, whenever and however they shop”.
The assistant will expand its capabilities, including reordering, service booking and processing text, images, audio and video.
Customers can now engage with Sparky across all categories through the “Ask Sparky” button in the Walmart app.
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By GlobalDataThis GenAI assistant is part of Walmart’s growing suite of AI-powered shopping capabilities, which includes enhanced search functionality, product review summaries and product comparisons.
Walmart further added that “Sparky is more than a feature — it’s a foundation for what’s next. Fuelling Walmart’s trajectory into the future of shopping, Sparky isn’t just revolutionising retail – it’s paving the way for a new and improved customer experience. And this is just the beginning”.
In early June 2025, Walmart partnered with Wing to scale up drone delivery services, broadening the reach to 100 additional locations within select markets.
