Walmart's investment in software and retail technology that helped transform its brick-and-mortar business into one that offers both in-person as well as online shopping, will now be available to other retailers, the company announced today. Walmart and Adobe have a strategic partnership that will allow them to integrate Walmart's Marketplace and its other online and in-store fulfillment technologies into the Adobe Commerce Platform.Adobe states that the technologies will be available to customers of both Adobe Commerce Open Source and Adobe Commerce.Walmart will be able reach thousands of small- to medium-sized retailers through this deal, which will enable them to use the same tools as one of the world's largest retailers to manage their businesses.Adobe retail customers will now be able to show their eligibility for pickup and offer multiple pickup options, including curbside or in-store pickup. They can also provide their store associates mobile tools to pick orders, validate items, and handle substitutions. Customers can communicate with their associates about pickup orders by using tools such as those that allow them to notify store associates of their arrival time and ETA.A second aspect of the partnership allows retailers to sell their products on Walmarts Marketplace.This arrangement will not only benefit Walmart's bottom line, as it provides new revenue streams for retail technologies. However, it could also be a tool in Walmart's fight against Amazon for online retail dominance.The Adobe Commerce platform will allow retailers to reach a wider audience by listing products on Walmarts Marketplace. Walmarts Fulfillment Services will then be used to offer two-day shipping across the U.S.This could increase the number of products available on Walmart's Marketplace, which is still far less than Amazon.According to third-party estimates, Walmart's Marketplace had 70,000 customers in 2020. This was due to an increase in online shopping caused by the pandemic. This is more than a doubling of the 2019 figure. According to Marketplace Pulse data, today's marketplace has more than 100,000 sellers. Amazons Marketplace has an estimated 6.3 Million total sellers around the world, with 1.5 million currently active.Walmart's difficulty scaling its marketplace business may be partly due to the ease-of-use of its seller side. Many small sellers complain that Walmart's Marketplace is much more complicated than Amazons. They also complain about having to wait months for Walmart to respond to their inquiries about approval to sell on the platform.Adobes partnership may help address some of these challenges.Adobe also noted that it is working to consolidate all its channel solutions into one unified extension. This would allow its retail customers sell across multiple sales channels, including Amazons, using one integrated tool for account setup and catalog distribution.The company stated that this is the first time Walmart has made its technology available to other businesses. It has not yet forecast the revenue that this new partnership will bring. Amazon has been following this path in recent years to maximize its return on investment for its innovative retail innovations like its A.I. Customers can skip the checkout line with Just Walk Out, a computer vision-powered system.In a statement, Suresh Kumar, chief tech officer and chief development officer at Walmart Inc. said that the core mission of helping people save time and live better is at heart of all ideas, including Scan & Go, checkout technologies, AI powered smart substitutions, pickup and delivery, and Scan & Go. He said that by combining Adobe's strengths in powering commerce experiences and our unparalleled omni-customer expertise, other companies can be accelerated digital transformations.The companies announced that Adobes U.S. customers will be able integrate Walmarts technologies into their storefronts from early 2022. Prices and other details will be available closer to the launch.Today's announcement focuses on channel partner Adobe who will help to resell these technologies. Walmart also has a GoToMarket group that will target retailers directly.
