Google Wants To Help You Buy Stuff From Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT thinks that teaming up with Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL's Google unit will encourage consumers to buy products on its online platform by encroaching on Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN

Walmart's customers will soon be able to buy products online through voice command. Walmart's customers can create a profile on their account that will be linked with Google Express and can be ordered through simple voice commands. Customers can speak to their Google device and say for example, "Google, buy me coffee" and then Google's algorithms will offer suggestions on brands and even scan for deals.

Walmart isn't the first retailer to partner with Google's Express platform, but it is the first to feature voice activated features.

"It makes sense for us to team up with Google," Wal-Mart's head of e-commerce, Marc Lore, said in a blog post. "They've made significant investments in natural language processing and artificial intelligence to deliver a powerful voice shopping experience."

Lore emphasized that customers will come out as winners because its partnership with Google will offer an "open and transparent shopping universe."

Walmart's ecommerce platform is also banking on a key advantage of Amazon's Prime subscription: no annual membership fee is required with the added benefit of free and speedy deliveries on all orders above $35.

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