Walmart last year launched a proprietary tool powered by generative AI called My Assistant designed to assist corporate employees, or “campus associates,” with office tasks. The tool is currently only available in the US, but Walmart on Tuesday announced plans to make it available to associates in 11 other countries in their native language.

Sitting down with Retail Brew at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Donna Morris, EVP and chief people officer Walmart Inc., offered some insights on how the tool works and how it might be expanded in the coming years.

What are some of the concrete ways that generative AI is assisting your employees?

Our desire was to build our own internal large language model that will allow our associates to do things like write a job description, prepare product specifications, use it for our merchants to assist around different items and products, and help individuals with calculations…And the way we look at it is: How can we provide the ability for our associates to move to productivity faster? And how can we optimize their time to be more human-based, where they’re getting into critical thinking skills, where they’re problem solving, where they’re working with other associates. Often many of us are burdened with a lot of tasks that get in the way from doing next-level work.

Keep reading here.—AV

Here’s a cold, hard truth to start your week: Pure DTC might help you reach retail customers directly, but it doesn’t mean you’re reaching more customers overall.

Okay, now for some good news. The most practical solution to diversifying your sales channels is actually a simple one: barcodes. Need more deets? The not-for-profit org GS1 US is here to help.

Once you get an official barcode on your products, you can manage, track, and uniquely identify your inventory. GS1 Standards include UPCs and 2D barcodes to assist with everything from identification within the supply chain to helping customers breeze through checkout.

If your pure DTC is lagging, read all about how barcodes can become your biz’s BFF.

Thanks for joining us again. Just a friendly reminder that Retail Brew is on the ground for the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York City this week. We’d love to see you there, but don’t overlook the other retail conference right next door.

Let’s get into it.

In new hires: Today, Christopher Metz takes over as CEO of Solo Brands, replacing John Merris in a move announced just last week. Metz has 25 years of experience in the consumer and durable goods spaces—mostly recently as CEO of Vista Outdoor.

In earnings: There will be a lot to dig into when Birkenstock reports its Q4 earnings Thursday. The company has had a whirlwind past few months leading up to and since its IPO.

In events: Today, Rethink Retail and Microsoft are hosting the AI in Retail conference, next door to NRF’s Big Show at the Javits Center. The event is “dedicated to equipping retail executives with AI knowledge and tools for operational integration.”

Keep reading here.—KM

In 2023, TikTok officially opened the doors of TikTok Shop in the US, a marketplace that many industry onlookers said could rival e-commerce juggernaut Amazon. TikTok had already built an ad business reportedly worth close to $20 billion in a little over five years, reaching 1 billion monthly active users globally last summer. If people are using the platform, why not sell them stuff?

Nearly four months after the unveiling of its US marketplace, TikTok Shop is selling…something. If it’s the future of digital commerce, though, it might leave something to be desired.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—RB