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Within Walmart, employees known as merchants make decisions about which products the company carries online and in stores, as well as pricing for those items. Naturally, the job involves plenty of data analysis, with merchants breaking down sales numbers by product category, sales channel, region, brand, item characteristics, and other factors. But manually running all of those reports and examining results using tools like Excel can be time-consuming, especially when merchants need to run multiple reports. “You can see how these reports can become time-consuming when analyzing customer behavior across so much data,” says Brian Knapp, senior vice president for merchandising transformation at Walmart U.S. “In fact, running and analyzing these reports can take hours, and we know that customer expectations are changing fast, and we need to be able to move with speed to respond to customer demand.” [Photo: Courtesy of Walmart] To help merchants quickly access and analyze relevant information, Walmart has introduced Wally, an internal generative AI tool that can dive into internal data to create responses in just seconds. Wally uses a familiar chat-style interface to retrieve relevant data from Walmart’s databases while accurately interpreting product industry jargon and category names (meaning users don’t have to worry about whether the database lists an item as, say, TV or television). Wally can then generate quick answers, tables, or full reports as needed. “We’re able to take some of the best practices we as a company have [learned] over the decades in analyzing this kind of data and generate a very high quality report for our merchants to then go use,” says Aditya Kumarakrishnan, a distinguished data architect at Walmart Global Tech. In a demo, Kumarakrishnan showed how a merchant could use Wally to analyze data about consumer electronics sales, probing details about televisions brands and prices for both in-store and delivery purchases. Wally can also help merchants manage both out-of-stock or overstocked items, and determine when to adjust prices or update sale info. The AI tool, first announced to the public on Thursday, was introduced to merchants about a month ago. So far, Knapp says, they’ve reported it has saved time they can then use on other tasks, and has made data more accessible to merchants. Wally has also been given access to training material that Walmart provides to its merchandising team, allowing it to make recommendations and interpret data in line with that internal guidance. Wally isn’t the only AI tool in use at Walmart. The company has previously unveiled an AI shopping assistant for customers and highlighted generative AI features to guide web customers to relevant deals. In an earnings conference call Thursday, CEO Doug McMillon said AI coding assistance and code completion tools helped save about four million developer hours last year. To make sure Wally gives accurate answers, Walmart has developed automated tests where the tool’s numeric responses are checked against known answers; the company even trained an AI judge to evaluate the software’s conversations based on human-annotated samples. Kumarakrishnan says his team also regularly reviews feedback from users on how the tool is working and other features it could offer. “There’s a whole group of us that love sifting through the feedback that merchants are giving,” he says. “There are questions that they’ll ask and they’ll want to know a slightly different angle, and that gives us a roadmap to go execute on for Wally.”
Category:
E-Commerce
When President Trump issued a freeze on federal grants and loans in late January, there was widespread confusion about what it could mean for countless programs that rely on that funding. For childcare providers, that funding can be a crucial source of financial support, since block grants and federal programs like Head Start enable them to serve low-income families who need affordable care. The Trump administration later clarified that certain programsincluding Head Startwould be exempt from the freeze, and Trumps proposal was rescinded just days later. But the damage had already been done: Even a week later, there were reports that childcare providers could not access federal funds that they desperately needed to cover payroll and continue providing care to families. The National Head Start Association found that at least 45 providers could not access federal funds, potentially compromising care for nearly 20,000 children and families. In the childcare industry, the steep cost of labor means that providers often operate with slim margins and have little to no financial cushion, leaving them in a precarious position. During the pandemic, many childcare centers only stayed afloat because the industry received billions of dollars in federal aid, which has since dried up. Some childcare workers worry that they could still be impacted by a freeze on federal spending, even if their funding has not been stripped at the moment. Their concerns are not unfounded: Despite the rescinded memo and court orders blocking the freeze, the Trump administration has paused funding for a variety of other federal grants, according to multiple reports. Fast Company spoke to two childcare providers who shared what it was like to navigate the aftermath of Trumps proposal, and how a funding freeze could have impacted their ability to serve low-income familiesor even keep their doors open. These conversations have been edited for clarity and length. Amanda Schillinger, childcare administrator in Burnsville, Minnesota For the entire time I’ve worked in [childcare], it has been an industry that struggles financially. You can only charge parents so much because they can only pay so muchbut they can’t go to work if they don’t have childcare. So its a complicated system where its a needed service, but it’s a very expensive service to operate, and you have to have plenty of staff. I always tell people, imagine having seven 2-year-olds all by yourself because in Minnesota, the ratio is one adult for every seven [kids]. Or imagine having four babies that you are responsible for feeding and caring for and educating and changing diapersand how much work that would be. I was checking news, like I do throughout the day, and [the funding freeze] popped up. My heart started to race. What does this mean? I know our childcare assistance comes from the block grants, which is a federal program. I know were on the food program, and that is also a federal program. I was like, are we not getting money anymore? I spent the entire day trying to find any information, to find out: What does this mean? There was no information. Nobody knew. I had to sit down with our owner and say, hey, this is what’s going on right now. We need to start coming up with a plan. Sixty-five percent of our students are served by the childcare assistance program. So I was like, how long can we operate if we arent seeing that money? And the owner [said] maximum 30 days. Having those students leave includes laying off staff. We cant just indefinitely pay staff when we dont have the students to pay for that. The food program pretty much pays for 100% of our food costs because we serve so many low-income families. We have not run into issues at this time with accessing our funds. I know Head Start programs have still been having issues with that. Until this is completely settled, we still are working on all of our plans and contingencies. Could we float those families on childcare assistance for a period of time? Or is this something where once we aren’t getting reimbursed, we just can’t? So that’s one of the big things we’re having to look atand that impacts staff and layoffs. We are fortunate to live in a state that has invested in childcare. That has definitely made a huge difference here compared to so many states. We have a program that helps cover classroom staff costs, and those things help us have a little bit better footing. But dont get me wrongits not enough. If the funding freeze ever happened, it would be an absolute stretch to make it 30 days. Christina Robles, childcare provider in Salt Lake City, Utah I have been running a daycare from my home since 2013. I have some of my own traumas with childcare, so when I had my own daughter, I decided that I wanted to be able to provide care for those that were in my situation and give my daughter the social development that she needed at that time. Originally, I was only going to do it for a few years, and here I am with three locations. Currently, I’m serving 48 families that are economically disadvantaged. I would say about 75% of my income comes from subsidized childcare, and the rest of it is out of pocket by parents, but thats not the norm. Im not in this for money. Im in it to help the community. In addition to that, I also employ six single mothers because it gives them an opportunity to stay home with their children while making an impact on their life and get a livable wage. I pay $15 an hour to all of my employees, so it’s as livable as I can [afford] in this economy. I walk a fine line between profitability and providing a safe space for children, where parents can trust that their children are being taken care of and taught. The pandemic funding [for childcare] made it possible for me to make big changes in my program so that I could reach more families, and it offset a lot of the cost for those parents and made it possible for me to grow in an industry that you can’t really grow in. It felt like there was this tidal turn, where we were being seen, heard, and valued. When the government was investing in us, I was investing in my workers; we were investing in children. We were really starting to see a huge difference across the board. It allowed me to go from paying my employees $10 an hour to paying all of them $15 an hour or more. When that funding went away, it left a heavy, heavy burden on me. When the news came down that there was a federal freeze, nobody knew what the heck that meant. Did that mean that was going to impact our food program? Nobody could answer, and they didn’t know when it was going to take place. For me specifically, thats about $6,000 a month. Thats the income for at least two of my employees. And then, it would have impacted block grants. Like I said, 75% of my income comes from subsidized kidsso right there, thats my entire livelihood. I also serve children from Indigenous tribes. It’s a good 30% of my income at one of my locations. When a few days had gone by, and I was like okay, this [federal freeze] is not happening, I got a letter stating that their funds had actually been frozen. They did not have access to it, and they had no idea when they would be able to pay us, if at all. I literally wasn’t getting paid as of that momentand that was $5,000. It took about three weeks or so before we realized that the funding was coming through, and I didn’t end up actually having to front the cost. But I was going to. I had already had conversations with the Indigenous parents because I couldn’t imagine what they were going through. What would they have done? Where would they have taken their kids? Would they have been able to take time off? I had to sit down and have really tough conversations with all of my employees, who do an amazing job every single day. I was like I dont know that I’m going to be able to make payroll. It was just so disheartening and stressful. If I lose any federal funding, either I’m going to have to close my doors completely to all of my locationsthat’s a real possibilityor I will have to change the clientele, and I will no longer be able to serve those underprivileged families who deserve an opportunity to have high-quality childcare. I would literally have to say: You don’t make enough money. And how do you place value on someone with their economic status? How do you do that to a child? How do you do that to a family that you’ve created a lifelong bond with? I would be forced to only look at profits and numbers. That’s never how I’ve operated. But I cannot live in fear of this administration, and what they’re going to do. If I do that and I base my decisions off fear, I’m not doing any justice to my families that I serve.
Category:
E-Commerce
You may have noticed that the Google-owned video-sharing sites infamous red play logo is now rendered in a softer, more pinkish hue. Thats because user research revealed that the companys logo color rated as one of its top three most outdated design elements.Last updated in 2017, YouTubes old brand color was a pure red that users perceived to be too loud when implemented in key UI moments, Robyn Lee, YouTubes visual design lead, said in a Google Design blog post.From top: The old red vs. the new [Image: YouTube]The old red had other technical problems, too, like rendering orange on some screens and causing a burn-in effect on TVsa major issue considering YouTube TVs rapid growth. But with the color so central to the platforms brand identity, designers had to be thoughtful about making a change.[Image: YouTube]To pick the new red, which began appearing on the site several months ago, YouTubes design team looked for colors that fit the companys creative principles of being welcoming, engaging, dynamic, and unified. They stayed away from colors that felt domineering, cold, or corporate, product manager Linda Hong said, and settled on a more mellow shade.[Image: YouTube]Designers also implemented a new red-to-magenta gradient and were mindful of how often red appears on the site. By limiting it to specific brand marks and UI applications, like the flame icon for Trending videos and and a fireworks animation thats activated when users click the like button, its less overpowering.[Image: YouTube]Red is synonymous with YouTube, but if its used everywhere, its power is diluted, said visual design lead Amy Yip. The red should be special and unique and limited to specific areas.Its a subtle color shift that keeps one of the brands core visual identifiers intact but adapts it for the needs of modern audiences in just the way you might expect from a video-sharing site: Its easier on the eyes.
Category:
E-Commerce
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