Walmart vs Target: Contrasting AI Shopping Strategies — In-House Development vs Partnerships

Two U.S. Retail Giants Reveal AI Shopping Tool Strategies

Walmart and Target Are Battling to Show Up in AI Shopping Tools—Here's How Their Strategies Compare

Breaking down the cases for homegrown tech vs. partnerships.

On March 18, 2026, Adweek published a detailed comparison of both companies' AI strategies. Walmart and Target have chosen dramatically different approaches for the era when AI influences consumer purchasing behavior. Walmart is building proprietary AI tools to control everything from customer experience to supply chain end-to-end, while Target is rushing to "set up shop" on external AI platforms through partnerships with OpenAI and Google.

Background and Industry Trends

Attention to AI shopping agents is rising rapidly. According to a Capital One Shopping survey, 73% of consumers already use AI in their shopping process, and shopping-related searches on generative AI platforms increased 4,700% from 2024 to 2025.

However, AI commerce faces the challenge of lacking unified technical standards. Emberos founder Justin Inman warns that "if everyone builds separately, complete chaos will ensue." In this standardization vacuum, Walmart and Target are each deploying strategies that leverage their respective strengths.

The strategic divergence also reflects differences in business environments. Walmart changed its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to tech-heavy Nasdaq in 2025, clearly positioning itself as a technology company. Target, under new CEO Michael Fiddelke, is recovering from several years of declining sales and has announced plans to invest $1 billion in customer experience in 2026.

Walmart: In-House AI Strategy with Four "Super Agents"

Walmart is building a comprehensive AI ecosystem centered on four "super agents."

The consumer-facing AI shopping assistant "Sparky" handles product search and recommendations within Walmart's mobile app. Walmart's research shows that 81% of customers use Sparky to check product availability and details before purchasing. Even more notably, Sparky users' order values are approximately 35% higher than non-users. Walmart is currently expanding sponsored ad tests within Sparky, also monetizing the AI shopping experience.

The supplier and advertiser-facing "Marty" automates advertising campaign analysis, bid optimization, and keyword suggestions. Combined with agents for store staff and developers, the four-pillar structure envisions AI optimization across all retail operations.

Walmart CEO John Furner emphasized in an earnings call: "We're not just embracing tools that change how people shop — we're creating them."

Target: Seeking First-Mover Advantage by "Setting Up Shop" on ChatGPT and Gemini

Target's strategy leans heavily into partnerships with external AI platforms. In November 2025, it announced a partnership with OpenAI and built a dedicated Target app within ChatGPT. Development took just one month. Users can simply ask ChatGPT "what do I need for a family movie night" and seamlessly browse and purchase Target products — from snacks to swimsuits and sunscreen.

Target CIO Prat Vemana explains the experience: "You can easily move the funnel from the chat world to the browsing world." The key advantage is that AI can respond to broader queries and suggest more relevant products than traditional mobile apps.

Target has also entered ChatGPT's advertising program early. Its advertising division Roundel sells conversational ads within ChatGPT. Product sales through Google Search's AI Mode and Gemini are also progressing in parallel.

Internally, Target has deployed ChatGPT Enterprise to 18,000 employees and is accelerating product development with the trend analysis tool "Target Trend Brain" for designers.

However, Vemana acknowledges that "consumers are still in the upper funnel right now — the inspiration stage," and that actual purchases through AI engines remain a challenge ahead.

Impact on E-commerce Businesses and How to Leverage

Both companies' strategies contain important implications for e-commerce operators.

First is "leveraging your own data." Xnurta CEO Kashif Zafar notes: "The question for advertisers isn't who has the AI — it's who can convert shopping data into automated optimization the fastest." Companies like Walmart with massive transaction data from groceries and last-mile delivery can gain overwhelming advantage through improved proprietary AI accuracy.

On the other hand, for operators with limited in-house development resources, Target's partnership model offers a realistic alternative. The trend of connecting product catalogs to AI engines like ChatGPT and Gemini to secure "shelf space on AI platforms" will accelerate.

Specific actions to consider include:

• Establish measurement infrastructure for traffic from AI engines
• Enrich structured data (schema) for product information to increase citation in AI responses
• Evaluate integration possibilities with ChatGPT and Gemini shopping features
• Consider AI ad inventory through retail media networks

Summary

Walmart and Target's AI strategies pose a fundamental question: "build the platform yourself, or ride someone else's platform?" E-commerce analyst Juozas Kaziukenas states plainly: "As someone watching the intersection of AI and commerce, I'm only watching Walmart" — reflecting high regard for Walmart's in-house approach.

However, ChatGPT's pivot from checkout functionality to retail app referral model has created tailwinds for app-linking strategies like Target's. While it's still too early to determine AI commerce winners, the success of both strategies will become clear in each company's second-half 2026 earnings. E-commerce operators should identify the optimal entry path into AI commerce for their business now.