Walmart’s AI assistant is changing how shoppers build carts

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Walmart says customers who use its AI shopping assistant Sparky spend 40% more per order than shoppers who do not, while the number of customers using Sparky has risen 70% year over year. The disclosure, made during Walmart’s August 20 Q2 FY27 earnings call, gives retailers one of the clearest signals yet that conversational AI is moving closer to the transaction itself.

The comparison matters because Sparky does more than answer product questions. Walmart says the assistant can recommend products, compare options and turn broader shopping missions, such as meal planning, into baskets that customers can add with fewer steps. In one example cited by CEO John Furner, Sparky generated high-protein meal ideas and ingredients while recognising products the shopper had recently purchased.

Furner told analysts that customers using Sparky for shopping “spend 40% more per order than others who do not.”

The trend has strengthened. Walmart reported in May that Sparky users had an average order value about 35% higher than non-users, while weekly active users had increased more than 100% during the preceding quarter. Walmart U.S. eCommerce subsequently grew 24% in Q2 FY27, while global eCommerce rose 23%.

The important caveat is measurement. Walmart has disclosed a difference between Sparky users and non-users, not a controlled experiment proving the assistant caused the entire spending increase. Higher-intent or heavier online shoppers may also be more likely to use Sparky.

For retailers and brands, the commercial implication is still significant. As shopping shifts from keyword search toward AI-generated recommendations and completed baskets, product data, availability, pricing and relevance increasingly determine whether brands appear inside an AI-assisted purchase journey.