The big data ecosystem at Walmart is very extensive. Every day, Walmart’s big data ecosystem processes terabytes of brand-new data together with petabytes of old data. The analysis includes tens of millions of customers and millions of products from various sources.
To maximize each keyword’s bidding,
Walmart’s analytics algorithms examine close to 100 million terms each day. Walmart’s main goal in utilizing big data is to enhance the shopping experience for customers whether they are in a store, on the Walmart website, or using mobile devices while on the go. Walmart develops big data solutions in form of Walmart ETL with the goal of redesigning international websites.
In order to find trends in point-of-sale data,
Walmart uses data mining. Data mining aids Walmart in identifying trends that can be utilized to provide product suggestions.
Customers based on what goods were purchased simultaneously or before a given product. Walmart’s customer conversion rate has increased as a result of effective data mining. Finding that sales of Strawberry Pop-Tarts surged by 7 times before a
hurricane is a well-known example of successful data mining using the association rule learning technique at Walmart.
Walmart placed all of the Strawberry pop-tarts at the checkouts before to a hurricane after discovering through data mining that Hurricanes and Strawberry pop-tarts are related.
Investigation into the problem began right once, and it was discovered that a straightforward stocking error had prevented the cookies from being placed on the shelves for sale. This problem was resolved right away, preventing further revenue loss.
Walmart monitors and targets each customer separately. Walmart possesses complete customer information on about 145 million Americans, with 60% of the data being adult Americans. Through in-store Wi-Fi, Walmart collects data on what customers buy, where they reside, and which products they prefer. The big data team at Walmart Labs examines every clicking activity on Walmart.com, including
what customers buy offline and online, what is popular on Twitter, local events like the World Series victory of the San Francisco Giants,
how changes in local weather effect purchasing habits, etc.
Millions of customers can benefit from valuable big data insights that are derived from the intelligent collection and analysis of all events by big data algorithms. This allows for a more individualized shopping experience. This is how they connect Walmart to BigQuery.
The business can find bottlenecks and inefficiencies and make data-driven
decisions to improve operations and cut costs by examining data on suppliers, logistics, and inventory levels. Big data is another tool that Walmar’t employs to improve the online shopping experience.
The business can offer specialized promotions and discounts by gathering and analyzing data on client behavior and preferences in order to develop personalized recommendations.
Possible Issues with Walmart’s Usage of Big Data
Data security and privacy: The security of the data gathered is one of the biggest issues surrounding big data. If the data is not effectively safeguarded, it may be taken, utilized improperly, or handled carelessly. Walmart must therefore make sure that it has strong security procedures in place to safeguard the information it obtains.
Unforeseen repercussions: The use of big data may have unforeseen repercussions, such as perpetuating prejudice or strengthening pre existing biases. For instance, Walmart might concentrate its marketing efforts on those groups if the data analysis shows that certain goods or services are more popular with particular demographic groups, thereby fostering prejudices or biases.
Fairness: Making sure that data analysis and algorithms don’t discriminate or reinforce biases.
Accountability is the process of holding people and institutions accountable for the safe handling of data and the results of its use.
Final Words
Walmart has used big data to increase efficiency, lower costs, and improve the consumer experience overall. Walmart can maintain its position as a market leader in the extremely dynamic and changing retail sector by utilizing data insights. In general, organizations like Walmart may allay worries about the use of big data by adopting a responsible and moral strategy that places a premium on protecting people’s privacy, fairness, openness, and responsibility.