Crypto “will become an important part of how customers shop”
Walmart ( WMT ) made headlines late last year when the company filed for several new trademarks that signaled its intention to create and sell virtual goods in the metaverse. Now the retail giant’s global chief technology officer says crypto transactions will be right “at the center” of the digital strategy going forward.
Speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit (video above), Suresh Kumar said he envisions a future where digital assets will be used both in Walmart’s online stores and in the virtual world.
“Crypto will become an important part of how customers shop,” Kumar said. “We want to make sure we make it as frictionless for customers … so they’re able to drive value out of it.”
That vision reflects an increased emphasis on the development of new technologies at the Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant since Kumar took the helm as the company’s first CTO back in 2019. In three years on the job, Kumar has built a team of 20,000 workers globally, with an additional 5,000 technology workers and open technology hubs being established in Atlanta and Toronto.
Speculation has swirled around Walmart’s crypto ambitions since the company filed seven separate trademark applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office in December 2021, indicating a desire to sell virtual goods, including electronics, appliances and personal care products. It also expressed an intention to offer users a virtual currency, including NFTs. Since then, the company has remained largely mum on how it plans to integrate crypto into the retailer’s larger footprint.
Kumar said he envisioned the use of digital assets to enable product discovery for customers at a time when shopping habits are changing rapidly. Specifically, he sees important use cases in the metaverse, as well as live streams in various social media apps.
“I think a lot of the disruption will start to happen in terms of different payment methods and different payment options,” he said.
Despite the price volatility of cryptoassets this year, major marketers have redoubled their ambitions, in part because it creates the potential for new revenue streams and allows brands to expand beyond their core customers. Pringles and Taco Bell are among a growing list of names that have issued and sold NFTs to appeal to younger customers, while Nike (NKE) partnered with Roblox (RBLX) to build out an online world called Nikeland, selling virtual goods.
NFTs are increasingly being used to create unique digital experiences, allowing brands to engage with customers who prefer to spend more time in virtual worlds or the metaverse, rather than brick-and-mortar stores, according to research from CB Insights.
The global metaverse market alone is expected to reach nearly $400 billion in the next two years with virtual assets such as NFTs and hardware driving the gains, according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Walmart has already integrated the use of blockchain technology into the core of crypto assets, with the development of a system that allows the retailer to trace the origin of the products and products they sell. The company is also exploring the technology’s use as a way to automate logistics transactions between suppliers and carriers.
Kumar said the company is focusing its technology investments on three key areas, including improving the customer experience and increasing supply chain efficiency.
“We have incredible computing power in the palms of our hands. We’ve mapped every square inch of the planet. We have computers through deep learning that can recognize and understand natural language. And we have computers that can recognize objects,” Kumar said. “All these things are coming. together, and they are the fuel for the next round of disruption that we are already beginning to see. We are beginning to see it in the way customers find, discover and are inspired by new products.”
Akiko Fujita is an anchor and reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @AkikoFujita
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