Most people don’t associate Walmart, the original big-box store, with good design. But under VP and head of design Valerie Casey, who has worked at the world’s three most iconic design firms—Pentagram, Ideo, and Frog—that’s changing. “Hundreds of millions of people walk into a Walmart each week,” Casey says. “How do we convert [them] to more satisfied shoppers with digital tools?” Case in point: Ordering grocery pickup from Walmart is now a smoother process than getting grocery delivery from Amazon Prime Now. Walmart lets you add additional items to your order after checkout (Amazon doesn’t), and the company doesn’t increase its shelf prices for the convenience of pickup or delivery (which, during COVID-19, has allowed customers to social distance without paying premiums for service). Here are three initiatives that the company has rolled out in the past year.
Smarter substitutions
Algorithms assess your previous purchases in order to suggest suitable alternatives for out-of-stock selections.
Tasty x Walmart shoppable recipes
Tasty, BuzzFeed’s video recipe series, is one of the most viral food brands in the world. Now, using the Tasty app, you can automatically fill your Walmart shopping cart with the ingredients for a Tasty recipe.
Walmart Health
Walmart Health centers focus on services such as X-rays and dental exams, and offer clear pricing models so people know exactly what they’re going to pay for medical treatment before they get the bill.
See more honorees from the 2020 Innovation by Design Awards here.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
