Walmart and the future

Social Media and applications

• Walmart is testing a new program in the Lawn & Garden Centers of more than 350 of its stores that outfits store associates with mobile point-of-sale technology to help customers check out and pay for their purchases on the spot, rather than having to go back inside the store to pay, according to a Walmart blog post.
• Under the "Check Out With Me" program, associates are given cellular devices and Bluetooth printers, the latter so that they can provide customers with receipts, allowing them to leave and carry their outdoor department purchases (e.g. mulch, soil, and flowers) directly to their vehicles.
• The new service arrives as Walmart continues to expand its in-store Scan & Go mobile checkout offering to more location

More about social media:

• About 55% of consumers have made purchases via social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, although 60% have never purchased a product promoted by a social influencer or celebrity, according to the 2018 Consumer Expectations Report from Avionos.
• The report, based on a survey of 1,409 consumers, also stated that about 66% of those surveyed said that when they browse online, they begin by conducting searches on Amazon or Google, suggesting that major search engines have replaced traditional web browsing practices.
• Regarding the role of physical retail, about 63% of consumers surveyed said they still prefer to buy big-ticket items like electronics or furniture in brick-and-mortar stores, and 52% admitted to researching these products online using either desktop or mobile devices.

• Fashion brand Natori deployed Albert, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that drives autonomous digital marketing campaigns, to drive a 76% surge in social media revenue in six months, according to a press release. The brand's paid social media on Facebook and Instagram rose 18% in return on ad spend and boosted its 2017 holiday-related conversions by 84%.
• Natori, whose brands also include Josie Natori, Josie and N Natori, targeted the discovery of new audiences on Instagram and Facebook with the Albert platform in an effort to drive visits to its e-commerce site and to increase social media conversions. Natori's data analysis helped the designer to update its content to resonate with changing consumer tastes.
• Albert boosted Natori's online conversions by 24% in a single month after learning which creative combinations were driving the most conversions among different audience segments. Albert determined that custom carousel ads exceeded benchmarks and recommended that Natori's creative team find new ways to format content for improved performance.

Apps are here to stay and so is social media!