January 12, 2026
Walmart and Google Integrate Gemini Agentic AI For A Stronger Ecommerce Customer Experience
The news is flooding out of the US National Retail Federation’s Big Show, with the changing face of loyalty already a talking point, and plenty of examples of AI arriving on the shop floor.
AI is boosting efforts in the phygital world and updating trending terms like shoppertainment by making experiences more personal.
But starting with some of the largest news, retail giant Walmart is refocusing on customer experience in the agentic era by linking the intelligence of Google’s Gemini AI with Walmart listings and offers.
The aim is to deliver agentic retail, and make shopping more intuitive, reliable and aligned with customers’ everyday needs. That’s as concern grows over the decline of search and traditional web-based shopping as AI becomes more popular.
Relevance and Personalisation Through AI for Walmart Customers
The new experience, built by Walmart’s team is accessible directly within Gemini using the Google’s new and open source Universal Commerce Protocol in partnership with many retailers and payment processors, and addresses several key customer needs:
- Product Relevance: Gemini will automatically include Walmart and Sam’s Club in-store and online products when it’s relevant. For example, when a customer asks for advice on camping equipment for the spring season, it will return items from the retailer’s large inventory of products. And since people talk back-and-forth with Gemini, there are more opportunities to show relevant products and services throughout the conversation
- Personalization and familiarity: When customers discover items in Gemini, Walmart helps them purchase in a seamless, trusted experience. When customers link their accounts, Walmart will recommend complementary items based on their past online and in-store purchases, combine their order with other items from their carts.
- Fast delivery: Customers and members can get in-store and club items delivered right where and when they want it, with hundreds of thousands of locally curated products delivered in under three hours and as fast as 30 minutes.
The Shift to AI Shopping
We’ve already seen the likes of Tesco in the UK deploy AI to improve the customer experience, but the Walmart effort could drive the greatest shift to AI shopping, and act as a bellwether for many brands.
“The transition from traditional web or app search to agent-led commerce represents the next great evolution in retail. We aren’t just watching the shift, we are driving it,” said John Furner, President and CEO of Walmart U.S. and incoming President and CEO of Walmart Inc. “We want to help customers get what they need and want, when and where they want it. Partnering with Google to bring the Walmart experience directly into Gemini is another step toward creating seamless shopping experiences for customers and members that are more intuitive and personal than ever before.”
Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai, chips in noting, “AI can improve every step of the consumer journey, from discovery to delivery. Walmart is an innovator in retail and we are excited to partner with them on a new open standard to make agentic commerce a reality. Customers will soon be able to experience everything they love about Walmart directly in the Gemini app,”
Watch for plenty more adopters of the universal commerce protocol, but keep a closer eye on the results as AI shopping could soar in 2026, having a major impact on how other retailers update their online efforts.
