Get Ready for the Fourth Dimension of Omnicommerce:
Walmart X ChatGPT
On October 14th, Walmart made a move that could reshape retail once again. In partnership with OpenAI, the retail giant announced customers will soon be able to shop directly through the ChatGPT app – opening a new frontier where conversations become checkouts.
Let’s unpack what this means for brands, for shoppers, and for Walmart’s race to stay ahead in the AI commerce revolution.
A Smarter, More Predictive Way to Shop
Walmart and Amazon have been using AI behind the scenes for years – from the assortment served up online to ad targeting, ad creative and customer service. Now, Walmart and Sam’s Club plan to create “AI-first shopping experiences” where ChatGPT acts as a personal shopping assistant – one that learns, plans, and predicts what you’ll need next. AI “agents” like Walmart’s and Amazon’s will make buying faster – and smarter. Think of Amazon’s Rufus, which already helps users “decide” based on budget and preference, or a “Buy for Me” agent that completes purchases using your stored profile.
It’s the next dimension of Omnicommerce – fun, anticipatory, contextual, and deeply personalized.
Imagine a personalized agent who helps you research your upcoming trip to Sicily, anticipates what you will need and recommends a map, Rick Steve’s latest Sicily travel guide, sunscreen and a new sun hat before you think to search for it. Or, imagine an assistant who knows you have been invited to a baby shower and can proactively check your gifting strategy, and recommend your preference for “sentimental” gifts two weeks in advance, pulling ideas from a registry as well as personalized ideas from new parent feedback from across the web.
Why This is Big
This collaboration gives Walmart a direct line into ChatGPT’s massive and growing user base – which now draws twice the traffic of Amazon (as of July 2025, per Semrush). Even more important, nearly half of ChatGPT’s users are under 25. That means Walmart isn’t just expanding reach – it’s entering daily conversations with the next generation of shoppers and initiating the path to purchase for impulse and planned purchases.
For shoppers, this creates a powerful new entry point into Walmart’s ecosystem – and for brands, it raises significant questions including: Will AI platforms benefit niche brands and products or the big brands and products, and can brands influence this? How do you secure visibility in an AI-driven feed? How will your brand and products show up when discovery happens through conversation instead of search? What new investments are required? What content is needed? Here are a few Simpactful predictions:
- AI Will Eventually Rewrite the Path to Purchase
eCommerce and Search evolved the Brick & Mortar shopping experience – and we expect AI will make another leap forward as we move from “search → browse → add to cart” to “chat → suggest → checkout.” Instead of pages of options, consumers may see just a few – meaning structured product data, insight on purchasers, jobs, appropriate usage context, clear value props, and strong reviews will be essential to even show up. - Channel Strategies and Requirements Will Diverge
What works in-store or on desktop may not translate to AI. Brands that pilot early with Walmart will learn how AI influences sampling, promos, and product recommendations – and get ahead of the curve. - Retailers will use this as a New Monetization Opportunity
Simpactful Senior Partner and Revenue Growth Management practice leader, Mike Tolkowsky, expects to see a continuation of cost transference. “As we have seen over the past decade, leading retailers will creatively capitalize on the introduction of incremental paths to discovery and purchase, urging their CPG partners to invest in these innovations for scale and cost-sharing.”
Early Adopters Will Win
This shift will redefine how products are discovered, how assortments are built, and how data drives brand visibility. Walmart will need to stand up new capability in this space. If Walmart Connect history is any indicator, it will look for partner manufacturers to pilot potential solutions ahead of a broadscale roll-out. Non-partner brands can still begin to take steps to make sure they are ready.
How to Prepare Now
- Revisit Your Walmart JBP and Request to Pilot the Walmart X ChatGPT Capability for Your Category. This will give you the chance to better understand what is needed and to negotiate for valuable data and insights.
- Focus on Generating and Unlocking Intent Data. Conversational commerce requires an understanding of why people buy – not just what. Begin mining the data you have or conducting research to build this insight for your brands and products. Start developing insights with observational learning, jobs and compensating behaviors, products research, consumer reviews and more to train AI models to recommend your products more accurately.
- Reconsider Negotiations. As retailers like Walmart collect richer conversational data, brands should push for reciprocal access – insights that inform assortment, media, and product planning. Be prepared to negotiate for new costs to serve, as well. Expect Walmart to experiment with Agentic AI recommendation booster fees and more.
- Rebuild Channel & Assortment Strategy. AI will become a new sales channel alongside stores, search, and eCommerce. This will require new Revenue Growth Modeling and assortment plans to win. Brands will require “AI-optimized” SKUs – your hero items with simple, clear differentiators – designed to thrive in recommendation-driven environments along with assortment that facilitates selection and deselection in physical, search and eCommerce shopping environments.
- Strengthen Your Algorithmic Trust Signals. As shopping moves behind conversational interfaces, visual branding gives way to data-driven reputation. Reviews, repeat purchase data, and sustainability credentials will become the new shelf talkers.
The Bottom Line
This isn’t just a tech story. It’s the start of a new retail era where discovery, checkout, and loyalty are mediated by AI. Brands that adapt early – optimizing for conversational discovery, data transparency, and algorithmic visibility – will lead the next phase of Omnicommerce.
Want to position your brands to be at the forefront of this exciting development in retail? Simpactful can help! Our experts in AI, Walmart, RGM, Insight, and Commercial Planning are already helping brands prepare for what’s next. Let’s talk about how to make your brand ready for the age of agentic commerce. Contact us at contact@simpactful.com or 925-234-6394, and visit www.simpactful.com to learn more.
Why This is Big
This collaboration gives Walmart a direct line into ChatGPT’s massive and growing user base – which now draws twice the traffic of Amazon (as of July 2025, per Semrush). Even more important, nearly half of ChatGPT’s users are under 25. That means Walmart isn’t just expanding reach – it’s entering daily conversations with the next generation of shoppers and initiating the path to purchase for impulse and planned purchases.
For shoppers, this creates a powerful new entry point into Walmart’s ecosystem – and for brands, it raises significant questions including: Will AI platforms benefit niche brands and products or the big brands and products, and can brands influence this? How do you secure visibility in an AI-driven feed? How will your brand and products show up when discovery happens through conversation instead of search? What new investments are required? What content is needed? Here are a few Simpactful predictions:
- AI Will Eventually Rewrite the Path to Purchase
eCommerce and Search evolved the Brick & Mortar shopping experience – and we expect AI will make another leap forward as we move from “search → browse → add to cart” to “chat → suggest → checkout.” Instead of pages of options, consumers may see just a few – meaning structured product data, insight on purchasers, jobs, appropriate usage context, clear value props, and strong reviews will be essential to even show up. - Channel Strategies and Requirements Will Diverge
What works in-store or on desktop may not translate to AI. Brands that pilot early with Walmart will learn how AI influences sampling, promos, and product recommendations – and get ahead of the curve. - Retailers will use this as a New Monetization Opportunity
Simpactful Senior Partner and Revenue Growth Management practice leader, Mike Tolkowsky, expects to see a continuation of cost transference. “As we have seen over the past decade, leading retailers will creatively capitalize on the introduction of incremental paths to discovery and purchase, urging their CPG partners to invest in these innovations for scale and cost-sharing.”
Early Adopters Will Win
This shift will redefine how products are discovered, how assortments are built, and how data drives brand visibility. Walmart will need to stand up new capability in this space. If Walmart Connect history is any indicator, it will look for partner manufacturers to pilot potential solutions ahead of a broadscale roll-out. Non-partner brands can still begin to take steps to make sure they are ready.
How to Prepare Now
- Revisit Your Walmart JBP and Request to Pilot the Walmart X ChatGPT Capability for Your Category. This will give you the chance to better understand what is needed and to negotiate for valuable data and insights.
- Focus on Generating and Unlocking Intent Data. Conversational commerce requires an understanding of why people buy – not just what. Begin mining the data you have or conducting research to build this insight for your brands and products. Start developing insights with observational learning, jobs and compensating behaviors, products research, consumer reviews and more to train AI models to recommend your products more accurately.
- Reconsider Negotiations. As retailers like Walmart collect richer conversational data, brands should push for reciprocal access – insights that inform assortment, media, and product planning. Be prepared to negotiate for new costs to serve, as well. Expect Walmart to experiment with Agentic AI recommendation booster fees and more.
- Rebuild Channel & Assortment Strategy. AI will become a new sales channel alongside stores, search, and eCommerce. This will require new Revenue Growth Modeling and assortment plans to win. Brands will require “AI-optimized” SKUs – your hero items with simple, clear differentiators – designed to thrive in recommendation-driven environments along with assortment that facilitates selection and deselection in physical, search and eCommerce shopping environments.
- Strengthen Your Algorithmic Trust Signals. As shopping moves behind conversational interfaces, visual branding gives way to data-driven reputation. Reviews, repeat purchase data, and sustainability credentials will become the new shelf talkers.
The Bottom Line
This isn’t just a tech story. It’s the start of a new retail era where discovery, checkout, and loyalty are mediated by AI. Brands that adapt early – optimizing for conversational discovery, data transparency, and algorithmic visibility – will lead the next phase of Omnicommerce.
Want to position your brands to be at the forefront of this exciting development in retail? Simpactful can help! Our experts in AI, Walmart, RGM, Insight, and Commercial Planning are already helping brands prepare for what’s next. Let’s talk about how to make your brand ready for the age of agentic commerce. Contact us at contact@simpactful.com or 925-234-6394, and visit www.simpactful.com to learn more.
