Amazon's domination of the retail market has been a cause for concern among some of the biggest retailers in the United States and Wal-Mart is possibly one which has the resources to compete with them on an equal footing. However, in a development that is definitely going to make the retail wars exciting, the retail giant has tied up with Google to take on Amazon in their own game.
Wal-Mart fights back
Amazon's latest feature Alexa must have come as a rude shock for most retailers as it allowed customers to place orders by voice. However, it seems that retail giant is not going to sit back and watch Amazon capture even more of its market share.
In a move that should definitely be seen as a response to Amazon's launch of Alexa, the company has tied up with tech giant Google and will be offering its customers the option to order thousands of items through its voice enabled service.
Google Express is currently being used by plenty of retailers but Wal-Mart's tie up is far bigger in scope. Wal-Mart will have access to all pre existing accounts on the platform and that is what makes this tie up a truly important one. In addition to that, the largest number of products will be made available to Google Express by them, thereby making it a viable rival to the marauding Amazon juggernaut.
The service
The service will be available to Wal-Mart customers from September and all they will need to do is to link their existing Wal-Mart accounts to Google Express to enjoy the new offering.
Customers can use Google Express to place their orders if they do not wish to use voice, however, if they do wish to use order by voice then they would need to use Google Home. The linking of a customer's Wal-Mart account with Google Express is a particularly significant point. The link up will allow Google to scan a customer's history and suggest products that he might wish to buy.
The General Manager of Google Express, Brian Elliott spoke to CNBC regarding the product and pointed out that the entire project might not be as smooth as one might expect. If the user orders the voice enabled service to look for a product then it might take Google a bit of time to offer the brand that might be preferable to the individual.
At the end of the day, Google might just be guessing and so there is a possibility that the service might appear a bit 'clunky' at the beginning. However, a long association with the customer will eventually lead to a far more prompt response.
