Tag Archives: Amazon

Walmart and Open AI

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Quick Take

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This week: Walmart announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate shopping directly into ChatGPT, complete with an Instant Checkout feature. The market reacted instantly, driving WMT stock up over 5%. If you weren’t already paying attention to agentic commerce, you should be now.

For experts in payments and eCommerce, this deal is the ultimate realization of Walmart’s Everyday Low Prices (ELP) strategy. ELP is their cornerstone, and when you lead on price, you can afford to be channel agnostic. Walmart is signaling that they will be everywhere the customer is buying.

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The Next GREAT RETAILER CONSOLIDATION? 

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Can retailers resist AI Platforms? I don’t think so..

Agentic Commerce is in a state of flux. While the AI platforms provide a glimpse of what conversational commerce will look like, most aren’t able to complete a transaction. 

Shopify and OpenAi are leading the way in creating a best in class integration that will change all that (see overview). For the millions of merchants on Shopify’s platform, participating in the conversational AI revolution will become as simple as flicking a switch. Shopify is handling the backend (real-time product data/inventory, payment and checkout). I love Shopify; their execution is consistently flawless, and I have no doubt this will be another seamless, successful product launch.

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Amazon’s Stablecoin Strategy (and other Channel Masters)

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It’s not about Consumer 

My best guess

Recent media reports have ignited speculation about the entry of Amazon and Walmart into the stablecoin. The dominant narrative surrounds consumer use and the desire to endrun card processing fees. IMHO this perspective represents a fundamental misreading of the strategic calculus for a global supply chain “masters” and overlooks the far larger, more complex lucrative prize: the radical optimization of its global treasury operations. An “On Us” that spans the globe and encompasses all of amazon’s marketplaces, AWS services, Advertising,… and everything else.  A proprietary, closed-loop financial rail that serves as the financial backbone for its vast network. 

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