Wal-Mart Stores re-invent businesses

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Improving the Experience of Customers with New Business Innovations

There are some key step that were taken by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the last week aiming to exploit its business capabilities.

To improve its business abilities, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) is getting into the search business, to competenot only with existing rivals like Google Inc.(NASDAQ:GOOG), but with e-commerce opponent Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).

The global retail giant on Thursday introduced Polaris, a search engine developed by its @WalmartLabs group, for providing a facility to its online shoppers with more relevant responses to queries entered at Walmart’s website.

President and CEO of Walmart global e-commerce, Neil Ashe, said through a statement that WMT characterized search as a crown jewel for any e-commerce company to own and presented Polaris as proof that the company is committed to owning new technology that is fundamental to serving its customers.

WMT tests iPhone app checkout feature

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is now testing a new system for the ease of customers that would allow shoppers to scan items using their iPhones and then they are able to pay at a self-checkout counter. This is a great idea to save checkout times of customers and to slash costs for retailers.

If the newly tested payment system of Wal-Mart is successful with “Scan & Go” test, then it would be the world’s largest retailer’s biggest success, and it also has the potential to change the way people can shop and pay, making the shopping process even more personal and potentially faster.

Walmart Inc also invited its employees with Apple Inc iPhones to participate in a test at a Walmart supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas, last week near the company’s headquarters, according to a form on the Survey Monkey website.

Paul Weitzel, managing partner at retail consulting firm Willard Bishop, who said he had not seen Walmart’s test, stated, “All of the effort is to speed your way through the checkout so that we can reduce costs and improve the shopping experience, with smartphones and improved technology we’re only going to see more of this.”

Shoppers and customers long complaining on Twitter and in other social forums that it takes too long to pay at Walmart, where sometimes there are only a few of the several checkout lanes open and staffed with cashiers.

So the world’s largest retailer is going to explore new innovative ways to benefit its customers by enhancing the shopping experience of customers at their stores and cutting the time of payment by introducing a self payment mode. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT)’s iPhone app already includes the functions which let the shoppers create lists and see which items are available in stock.The Walmart iPhone scanning test can give the facility to shoppers to scan the products with their phone and put them in bags while they shop, and then they can easily pay at a self-checkout counter.