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Don’t waste another dime on bloated channel reporting and vanity metrics.
Walmart wants to provide omnichannel technology it developed in-house to other retailers.
A Walmart GoLocal delivery. (Courtesy photo)
Walmart is known for its marketplace of consumer goods. Now, it is setting up shop on a B2B software marketplace as it seeks to work with other retailers.
The news: Walmart will make services for pickup and local delivery through Salesforce’s app store. The release from Walmart Commerce Technologies is a move to expand use of the capabilities that Walmart developed in-house to power omnichannel operations, and grow a business line as a vendor to other companies in the process.
What will be available? Walmart is making the following apps available in the Salesforce AppExchange:
Key quote from Anshu Bhardwaj, senior vice president for technology strategy and commercialization at Walmart Global Technology: “Through this partnership, retailers can leverage the same innovative and scalable technologies that power Walmart’s pickup and delivery experiences. The same technology that powers Store Assist has enabled Walmart to fulfill over 830 million orders across over 4,700 Walmart stores. Together with Salesforce, retailers can scale their business and deliver the personalized, convenient experiences shoppers expect.”
Let’s break down the key parts of this partnership:
Omnichannel imperative: We’ll keep repeating it this year: The return to in-person shopping in 2022 didn’t cancel out ecommerce. Rather, it underscored how physical and digital have to operate together going forward. In-store fulfillment, BOPIS and local delivery from stores are just a few of the operations through which this blend will play out. The partnership underscored how Walmart has been expanding aggressively in omnichannel. The GoLocal service launched in 2021. By 2022, it had topped 1 million delivered and was on track to reach 5,000 pickup locations.
Walmart as tech company: Building enterprise tech and launching it on an app store. These are typically the tasks of software companies, and Walmart is now among them. Working at massive scale, Walmart is an operations juggernaut. As it sought to leverage its stores while building out ecommerce, it built the technology that connected those operations, and solved problems that were unique to an organization of its size at a time of massive change in consumer behavior during the pandemic. Having pushed out ahead, Walmart now sees opportunity to offer its capabilities to other retailers. It stood up the Walmart Commerce Technologies division last year to bring these capabilities to market.
As Bhardwaj told us in April, “We have a world class organization including technology, product and operations teams that we believe, combined with our retail strength and scale, will allow us to build a mutually beneficial flywheel that unlocks new revenue for Walmart while improving the customer experience for everyone.”
Salesforce ecosystem: There is always lots of discussion about consumer app stores from Apple and Android, as well as Shopify’s app store for commerce technology. Less is written about Salesforce’s AppExchange, but there probably should be more. It provides complementary apps to Salesforce’s cloud-based and CRM technology, creating a B2B software ecosystem. Like the other app stores, it opens up access to technology that can make Salesforce more valuable, and provides entrepreneurial opportunities for developers. Launched in 2017, the AppExchange crossed 10 million downloads in early 2022. It also includes consultants that can provide services around the apps offered. While app stores often bring to mind small startups launched by a single developer, Walmart’s entrance shows there is room even for the largest companies to offer their technology there, as well.
Commerce complement: The partnership between Walmart and Salesforce leaves room for the two companies to expand their commerce capabilities by working together. Salesforce provides tools to help retailers operate their stores across channels, and now Walmart is bringing its own technology into that mix. An announcement notes that the fulfillment and delivery services from Walmart can be used alongside Salesforce’s store management solution, called CommerceCloud, and order management. This means Walmart will also work with more brands and retailers, potentially helping to gather data that will fuel its own retail media. In turn, this can help the brands that already sell and advertise at Walmart. Further demand for its delivery network can also help to grow that business further.
“With the combined power of Walmart and Salesforce, retailers can drive success with best-in-class technology to advance their omnichannel capabilities, drive efficiency and ensure that every purchase quickly gets into the hands of the shopper – no matter where they are," Garf said.
The partnership brings together subscriptions and shoppable content.
A Wendy's ad on Roku. (Courtesy photo)
Roku and DoorDash are teaming up to connect TV and food delivery in one experience.
The news: Roku and DoorDash announced a new partnership that will allow people to order food delivery from a shoppable ad on their TV. Along with the capabilities being put in place by the tech platforms, Wendy’s is also adding shoppable content that will provide a discount on ordering at launch.
How does it work? For Roku account holders, there are three parts to the partnership:
DashPass: DoorDash is providing a complementary six-month DoorDash subscription. Called DashPass, this provides $0 delivery fees on orders from restaurants, grocery and retail stores on DoorDash’s marketplace.
Shoppable ads: Roku viewers will be able to click from their remote to order straight from ads on Roku via offers provided through DoorDash. For the first year, DoorDash will be the exclusive ad solution provider for restaurants on its marketplace to buy shoppable ads on Roku. With this, restaurant advertisers will also be able to work with DoorDash to attribute, target and measure TV streaming ads.
Wendy’s: The companies said Wendy’s also upped its digital capabilities as part of this partnership. The chain will make offers available through the shoppable ads. At launch, it will provide $5 off any Wendy’s purchase of $15 or more.
Key quote from Rob Edell, GM and head of consumer engagement at DoorDash: “While this offer unlocks DashPass benefits and perks for Roku users everywhere, it also provides our merchant partners with an opportunity to promote DoorDash offers through TV streaming. Consumers can conveniently and affordably get the best of their neighborhood delivered to their door, while brands can reach diners at the right time and drive instant conversion from the comfort of the living room.”
The partnership is a sign that several different strategies being employed in digital media and commerce are converging:
Streaming and delivery: Watching TV and ordering food is a common behavior. In fact, Roku research indicates that one in three users order takeout or food delivery weekly. The partnership shows how there is room for the platforms that provide each of these distinct services to work together. It's a reminder not just to monitor how customers use your product, but what other products and services they use with it.
Shoppable ads and subscriptions: As digital commerce grows, there’s interest in reducing the steps between when a user thinks about making a purchase, and when they actually click “Buy.” This partnership does that in a couple of ways. With shoppable ads, Roku viewers can order directly from their TV, and even within the show they are watching. Switching devices may be a barrier, however small, to a sale. On DoorDash’s side, putting a subscription in place means users don’t have to think about logging in or consider delivery fees. This shows how introducing more interactive capabilities to streaming can open up new opportunities for commerce. Roku data shows that 36% of its users are interested in receiving interactive offers, such as a scannable QR code or text message. Such capabilities allow users to take action without switching screens.
Retail media and CTV: On the advertising side, the partnership is connecting DoorDash’s ad network with Roku’s content capabilities. DoorDash operates as a marketplace, while Roku serves ads during streaming content. Both have powerful customer data. DoorDash has purchase-level, or first-party, data. Roku has data on millions of customers, and the ability to reach them while they are doing the common activity of watching TV. The platforms also both have the ability to target users and measurement capabilities that can make this whole system even more powerful. While this partnership sets out one way the companies will work together immediately, it’s a safe bet that the partners will find other areas of mutual benefit to explore.
Further reading: It’s just the latest move by Roku to bring shoppable content to the platform. Last year, the streamer partnered with Walmart to pilot direct ordering straight from shoppable ads.
Is Amazon next? Break down the individual parts of this partnership: Subscription, delivery network, marketplace, streaming platform, advertising capabilities. Amazon owns each of these, and it even has a restaurant delivery partnership with Grubhub. Will it put these parts to work in a similar way? The better question may be, how long until it does so?