Walmart Revamps Website & App To Elevate Visibility In The Store In Your Pocket
By Mikelle Leow, 04 Apr 2023
In the same way bright packaging steals the gaze in big-box stores, Walmart is bringing vibrant and prominent visuals to its digital storefronts with dramatic redesigns for its website and mobile app.
As shoppers turn away from discretionary purchases like clothing and electronics, the retailer is making “the closest store to [its] customers” more attractive to shift their attention back to these products. This dynamic facelift—spearheaded by the Walmart global tech, product, and design teams—features large, glossy imagery in a social media-inspired layout.
Walmart describes the makeover as a “customer-centric” one that pushes inspiration and the hottest shopping trends to the forefront, enabling customers to get to the items they want more quickly without sifting through pages.
The new experience “makes it more compelling to shop with us while saving our customers time and money,” explains Tom Ward, Executive Vice President and Chief eCommerce Officer at Walmart US.
Before
After
With richer graphics, snappy headlines, and standout videos, the new format emulates the attention-grabbing qualities of online destinations like TikTok and Instagram, complete with a “social-inspired scroll” so users can browse listings “just as they’d scroll their favorite social media apps,” says Ward.
The shift to a more aesthetically-forward layout may have resulted from a need to redirect shopping behavior during these challenging times. According to CNBC, Walmart, too, has witnessed a refocus on essentials like food, groceries, and housing, in place of spending for everyday indulgences. The retailer is also anticipating weaker sales in the upcoming months, says the report.
With that said, Walmart notes that the revamp will also better serve suppliers and Marketplace sellers, who can now push more interesting products and stories “within moments that are top of mind for our customers.”