Walmart Allies with Google to Beat Amazon

Intent on going toe-to-toe with Amazon, Walmart took its recently announced Google Express partnership live last week to introduce "highly personalized" voice shopping just as Amazon revamped its Alexa-powered Echo devices.The mass merchant is dangling up to $25 off an order via the e-commerce and shipping service throughout the holiday season and until Jan. 31, 2018, to encourage shoppers to use the voice link directly to walmart.com. Participants must buy a Google Home or newly announced Google Home Mini device from Walmart and link it to their Walmart accounts between Oct. 4 and Jan. 15, 2018, facilitating personalized recommendations and easy reorders of frequently purchased items.A push notification from the Walmart mobile application plugged the offer on Oct. 5, inviting consumers to preorder a Google Home Mini. A home page carousel ad continues to tout the incentive, linking to a content-rich Google Home product page. The Mini was just introduced as a more affordable option at about half the cost of the core device, which launched late last year with support from several retailers.A rotating carousel ad on the Google Express home page touts Walmart as a partner, promising "More ways than ever to get Every Day Low Prices."The Google partnership gives Walmart a fast and scalable way to enter the voice shopping market. Google Express offers one- to three-day shipping and boasts more than 30 retail partners, including Target, Costco and Walgreens. Home Depot also is coming to the service later this year. (See Related Updates below.)"We know this means being compared side-by-side with other retailers, and we think that’s the way it should be — an open and transparent shopping universe is good for customers," Marc Lore, chief executive officer of Walmart U.S. e-commerce, said in a blog post.As voice- and visual-driven search options proliferate, Google wants to make sure consumers know how easy it is to order through a variety of retailers (none of which are Amazon) through its online shopping platform. The company last week launched an ad campaign uniting its generally competitive retail partners against Amazon, albeit not by name. (See video below.)The campaign comes from Minneapolis-based Mono, Ad Age reported, and is running on YouTube and other social networks, Google's own display ad network and Android TV.In August, Google also ditched its $10 monthly membership fee for free delivery, instead requiring orders meet the minimum threshold set by individual stores.In related coverage, Shopper Marketing magazine recently hosted five leading industry minds for a virtual roundtable to discuss how brand are organizing around today's shopper, who can buy everywhere and anywhere. Institute members, read it here.

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