Walmart to use AR, shoppable content to connect brands with consumers

Dive Brief:

Walmart is launching a campaign called "Joy. Fully" featuring shoppable livestreams, shoppable content and, through a partnership with Facebook, an AR lens that allows consumers to use their facial expressions to pick the products that "spark joy" for them, the retail giant announced on Friday. From that lens, shoppers can visit Walmart's "gift finder experience" to purchase products.
The retailer also said it plans to host the shoppable livestreams with multiple publishers, well-known influencers and others, but the retailer didn't disclose any further details.
As part of the campaign, the company is also introducing the first large-scale launch of shoppable recipes on Pinterest. The initiative allows consumers to seamlessly add ingredients to their Walmart carts for easy purchase.

Dive Insight:

Walmart's collaborations with Pinterest and Facebook are a continuation of the retailer's efforts to reach new consumers through livestreams and AR technology.

For example, to amp up back-to-school enthusiasm, the retail giant hosted a shoppable livestream concert featuring musician Kane Brown in August. The platform also hosted a shoppable livestream on TikTok in December 2020, which experienced seven times as many views as the retailer expected, and boosted its TikTok following by 25%, according to the company. Walmart followed that up with another shoppable livestream on TikTok in March 2021 to showcase beauty products.

Walmart stated that consumers increasingly want to discover products through "content-to-commerce" means.

In its announcement, Walmart touted the success of its partner brand experience when using Walmart Connect, its media business, to reach shoppers. Per its figures from Q4 2020, campaigns in the food, clothing, consumables and toys categories experienced a 13% increase in reach.

"With our newly expanded capabilities, partnerships, supplier integrations and customer activations, we're excited to unlock an even wider range of omnichannel touch points this holiday to connect brands with customers through innovative technologies and inspiring social content," Kara Rousseau, vice president of marketing at Walmart Connect, wrote in the announcement.