"Shoppers now expect an AI agent to answer questions like, "Who can deliver a patio heater by Saturday?" or "Where's the best price on a Dyson vacuum today?" Those answers don't come from thin air, they come directly from a retailer's own systems. If inventory is siloed, prices don't match across channels, or fulfillment timelines are outdated, the agent will provide the wrong answer. And when the promise is broken, it doesn't just cost a sale."
"Walmart is one of the exceptions that proves the rule. I work for a company that helps Walmart to automate and unify their data systems. Through years of supporting their integrations and data operations, I've seen firsthand how the retailer has invested in making data a true competitive advantage. They've prioritized connecting ERP, inventory, and fulfillment systems-infrastructure that now allows AI agents to surface Walmart's product information with confidence."
Consumers can now buy products directly inside ChatGPT, and major retailers are already receiving significant referral traffic from AI. AI shopping agents rely on accurate, unified data from retailers' systems to answer availability, pricing, and delivery questions. Siloed inventory, inconsistent pricing, and outdated fulfillment timelines cause incorrect answers that lose sales and damage trust in both retailers and AI. Walmart invested in integrating ERP, inventory, and fulfillment systems to present reliable product information, yielding increased ChatGPT referrals. The essential priority for retailers is clean, real-time, end-to-end data plumbing to enable AI-driven shopping; without it, AI will skip unreliable retailers.
Read at Fortune
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