{"id":12190,"date":"2020-04-21T02:53:46","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T06:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/walmart-an-omni-channel-vision-with-data-as-its-core\/"},"modified":"2020-04-21T02:53:46","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T06:53:46","slug":"walmart-an-omni-channel-vision-with-data-as-its-core","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/walmart-an-omni-channel-vision-with-data-as-its-core\/","title":{"rendered":"Walmart \u2013 An omni-channel vision with data as its core"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many trends have been shaping the retail industry. Those include but are not limited to reduced foot traffic in physical stores, rise in online shopping, changing customer behavior (e.g. rising expectations \u2013 focus on ease and convenience, tech-savvy customers) as well as increasing cost pressures.<\/p>\n

To stay competitive\/afloat in this era, traditional retailers have shifted to an omni-channel strategy and are striving to deliver a seamless customer journey across the physical and digital world. This has led to a proliferation of data. Deemed to be a competitive advantage at first, leveraging data to inform decision-making has become more of a norm nowadays, particularly for big retailers. Retailers are focusing on building a 360-degree view of their customers and leveraging data to improve operations.<\/p>\n

Walmart is a clear example of a retailer that is focusing on harnessing the power of data. Walmart has started leveraging data to execute a variety of use cases, with a varying level of complexity ranging from descriptive to predictive to prescriptive (Exhibit 1).<\/p>\n

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Exhibit 1: Walmart Use Case Examples<\/strong>1,2,3,4<\/sup><\/p>\n

Walmart is determined to its analytics capabilities. For example, in 2017, it established the Data Caf\u00e9, a state-of-the-art analytics hub which connects to more than 200 datasets, both internal (e.g. transaction data, customer profiles) and external (e.g. social media data, Nielsen data).5<\/sup><\/p>\n

In 2019, it launched its Intelligent Retail Lab to experiment with AI solutions to envision the future of retail. Walmart is leveraging the internet of things (IoT) coupled with AI to continue transforming its retail operations, with a focus on digitizing the brick-and-mortar stores. One example relates to digitizing its physical stores by using technologies such as cameras and sensors on shelves to track products (e.g. availability, freshness \u2013 example color of a banana) in order to optimize inventory. The data will first be used to inform the need to restock the shelves in real-time and then, once enough data has been collected (customer behavior, item availability, etc.), to forecast that need. This will enable Walmart to service customer faster, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce costs.6<\/sup><\/p>\n

The company is investing in many technologies to generate value across the customer journey. Walmart will capture this value in a variety of ways, some mentioned above. On the customer side, these include improving customer acquisition, increasing customer lifetime value, reducing customer churn, increasing sales, etc. On the operations side, these include reducing costs, increasing productivity, speeding decision-making, reducing fraud, etc.<\/p>\n

Yet, like many other traditionally brick-and-mortar retailers, Walmart is still struggling to compete with players such as Amazon. The two main challenges are:<\/p>\n