EXCLUSIVE: How Walmart Business serves commercial, nonprofit customers

The Walmart Business program provides value to business and nonprofit entities who want to shop at Walmart.

The age of the store chain I recently talked to Ashley Hubka, chairman Walmart Companyhow the program, originally launched as an e-commerce site with an assortment of over 100,000 products prepared for organizational customers in January 2023, is achieving its mission of providing convenience, savings and essential products to its base of business, nonprofit and government customers.

How would you define the Walmart business?

Walmart Business exists to focus on the unique needs of businesses, non-profit organizations and government entities. We can use all the company’s resources and capabilities Walmartwhether it’s assortment, everyday low price, supply chain network, store space, or e-commerce, fulfillment and delivery technologies.

We can leverage all of this and then leverage the elements that companies or organizations need, such as tools to manage expenses or additional inventory. This is how we think about the role Walmart Business can play for its customers and within the Walmart ecosystem.

What does Walmart Business offer?

We have a dedicated website and application. Walmart Business offers a wide range of grocery items, including packaged and fresh foods, office supplies, cleaning supplies, technology, apparel, workwear, footwear, professional supplies and facility needs.

When it comes to saving time, we offer omnichannel so customers can shop on our website, app or store, but can also have their products delivered for scheduled pickup.

Another time-saving thing is subscriptions. Customers can subscribe to essential recurring items and know they’ll arrive, saving them the time of purchasing them or worrying about whether they’re in stock.

This is all based on multi-user accounts, which means that an organization can split purchases among all its users and allow everyone to purchase what they need, while still having visibility of all purchases in the organization’s account.

Walmart Business customers can even share their payment method for everyone to use, but only the admin who controls the card can see all the details.

Why did Walmart launch Walmart Business?

Walmart has a long history of serving businesses and nonprofits in our stores and online. We looked at customer behavior. We also looked at external data and that led us to launch Walmart Business in early 2023.

As we talked to organizations of all sizes and industries, we heard three consistent themes. First, they wanted to save money and simplify purchasing for their company. Second, they wanted to maintain inventory and control, and third, they were looking for efficiency to operate and grow.

With this in mind, we launched Walmart Businesses as a dedicated omnichannel solution for businesses, nonprofits and government entities.

How have Walmart’s business and nonprofit customers responded?

I will give two examples. First, we have a local nonprofit in Bentonville, Arkansas that prepares home-cooked meals seven days a week, and it took them about five hours a week to shop for those items.

By taking advantage of Walmart Business and the delivery we can provide from Walmart stores, this nonprofit was able to save a significant portion of that time and put it back into its core services.

In another example, we had a business client share how they leveraged Walmart’s supply chain to ensure more timely delivery of essential items. Instead of stocking larger quantities in their warehouse and using up cash flow, a Walmart Business customer can rely on Walmart’s supply chain and order these products as needed.

How does Walmart Business leverage Walmart’s AI capabilities?

We have implemented AI-powered features on the Walmart Business site that respond to customer behavior, what is their journey on the site, where are they engaged? Where do they click? What do they pay attention to?

Based on this, we can provide customers with various suggestions or experiences that use artificial intelligence and respond to customer actions in a personalized and tailored way. Walmart Business also benefits from this Automation based on artificial intelligence in the Walmart supply chain at various network facilities.

How will Walmart Business leverage AI in the next six to 12 months?

The push for artificial intelligence is very real and present for us, as I think it is for all companies. Whenever we find opportunities that align with human leadership and technology, and where AI allows us to go further and faster, Walmart Business will address them, either on the front end or on the back end.