Google’s and Walmart’s leaders are both betting the future of retail on AI and technologies like drone delivery.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai and incoming Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner — who will become the company’s next CEO in February — revealed how AI is reshaping search and shopping during a Sunday keynote at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York City. The annual event is one of the most important retail conferences for marketers and retailers.
Google and Walmart will partner closely, the CEOs revealed.
One of the biggest reveals is that shoppers will be able to purchase Walmart and Sam’s Club products through Google’s AI chatbot Gemini.
Google will be able to pull the retailers’ assortments and prices to help customers see what products are available, Furner said.
Walmart and Sam’s Club loyalty members can also link their accounts to Google, which will help Gemini understand information like preferences based on shopping history.
“We think the future will be very personalized, it will be very convenient,” Furner said.
A new protocol for retailers
Google also announced an AI protocol called Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) aimed at becoming the industry standard for retailers’ AI agents and systems. Google developed it with Walmart, Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, and Target, and Pichai said UCP is meant to be a global protocol that can also work with existing agent protocols.
“It was built to meet the needs of retailers and customers, keeping the full customer relationship front and center from the moments of discovery, decision, and beyond,” Pichai said.
The first use case of the protocol powers a native checkout button on Google’s AI Mode and Gemini products.
A conversation with a large language model (LLM) might pull up suggested products to buy, and retailers can use UCP to personalize the message around those products. For example, a new shopper may be prompted to sign up for a loyalty program, whereas an existing shopper might see personalized offers, which can be purchased through that same conversation using Google Pay.
In theory, the protocol lets retailers use Google’s AI tools while still retaining control.
“The retailer is able to shape the relationship at every step as the merchant of record,” Pichai said.
Google is in a tight race with AI platforms like OpenAI, Perplexity, Microsoft, and Anthropic, as these models replace traditional search.
While OpenAI’s ChatGPT has dominated share of AI chatbots since it introduced itself to the public, recent research from Similarweb found that ChatGPT has been steadily losing share over the last year, going from 86.7% to 64.5%, whereas Google’s Gemini has steadily gained share during that same time, going from 5.7% to 21.5%.
Google’s Gemini app now has more than 650 million monthly users, representing nearly 15% year-over-year growth, Pichai said.
The tech giant added its Shopping Graph to Gemini in November, and now provides more than 50 billion product listings that track pricing, reviews, and inventory in real time.
Google’s announcement with Walmart at NRF is just the latest example of how it has taken strides to drive both consumers and businesses to its AI search tools by supporting commerce activities.
More drone deliveries
Walmart is also experimenting with new delivery technology like drones.
Walmart has an existing partnership with Google’s drone-delivery service Wing that allows customers in cities like Dallas, Orlando, and Atlanta to receive Walmart orders from drones. The partnership is now being expanded to 150 more locations including Miami and Los Angeles, reaching a total of 270 locations.
In Atlanta, 50% Wing customers use the service more than once, and half of the deliveries happen in 20 minutes or less, said Pichai.
“It’s complicated. There are regulations, there’s the weight of the aircraft, load, and speed,” Furner said. “What’s exciting about the announcement is that it will take us from coast to coast.”