hownottowrite

4 माह पहलेdiscuss

I think in large part the average Walmart consumer does not shop like the average Amazon consumer. They load up a big cart over time rather than pull the trigger on lots of smaller, convenience-driven purchases. So Walmart is going to view a smaller cart size as a potential failure primarily because their operations are not optimized the same way that Amazon is.

hownottowrite

4 माह पहलेdiscuss

Sure, I use it for that too. But we’re also talking about most people. Your average Walmart customer is not going to be your average HN reader.

hownottowrite

4 माह पहलेdiscuss

I’ve been running e-commerce systems for 30 years (tech, marketing, etc). This was going to fail from the start for one reason: intent.

Most people using AI chat are exploring ideas and solutions. They’re doodling, not shopping. Or in old timey parlance, they’re looky-loos or tire kickers at best.

Anyone who’s had to justify ad spend in e-commerce can tell you that some sources produce huge traffic with absolutely terrible conversion. Reddit and Pinterest pretty much blow for this reason, with limited exceptions. It’s also why TikTok and other influencer platforms really work.

Conversion requires a mental shift from discovery to demand.

Also, really hate summaries like this without the actual source so here are the main points from the actual source (WIRED https://archive.is/7DuEV):

1. Instant Checkout inside ChatGPT performed poorly, with conversion about one-third of Walmart’s normal site.

2. The experience failed largely because it forced single-item purchases instead of letting users build a cart.

3. Walmart is shifting to embedding its own assistant, Sparky, inside ChatGPT and keeping checkout on its own system.

4. ChatGPT is still valuable because it’s driving significantly more new customer traffic than search.

5. Purchases that did work were mostly practical, problem-solving items like supplements and tools.

6. Fully automated “agentic shopping” is still unlikely in the near term because people want control over purchases.

7. OpenAI is moving away from in-chat checkout and focusing on helping users research while merchants handle transactions.

In short, AI is useful for discovery, but traditional e-commerce flows still outperform it at closing sales.

hownottowrite

4 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

It may be possible but it is not probable.

hownottowrite

4 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Then I guess we'll just have to get used to buying everything from Amazon.

hownottowrite

4 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

The last part of your reply is an interesting point. As one of those little guys who enjoys getting a kick at the can, I see self-feeding spiral of the present ad marketplace with disdain.

Two years ago it was different and a lot of small companies could compete. CPAs were well below anything I ever saw in the world of print advertising. Very efficient.

Now, it seems we've gone back 10 years in time. Only large brands are bringing in enough gross margin dollars to run poorly targeted campaigns. This is likely to get much, much worse as small companies exit the stage entirely.

The sad thing is that there is really no where else for a small company to go for acquisition marketing. Can't go back to print. The only outlet left is selling in large marketplaces like Amazon where the competition is apt to steal your product (not to mention the insane fees).

hownottowrite

4 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Yup. The advertising apocalypse has been a complete horror show for many small businesses. But super excited people have their privacy so that only the bigoted of the big can afford to show them ads.

hownottowrite

4 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

What about small mom and pop businesses that leverage targeted ads to compete against mega-corporations?

hownottowrite

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Small retailer here and I can confirm similar dips. Basically it’s pulling out a channel we can use for discovery ads which just leads us all back to making the same boring stuff to feed into the Amazon/Google searchplex.

Hope everyone enjoys having the same of everything!

hownottowrite

6 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Me too!

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