Walmart overhauls shopping website to close the gap with Amazon

There is hardly anything Walmart (WMT) has not pursued in its efforts to stay relevant in the highly competitive retail landscape, and the company’s focus was always on innovations targeting new-gen customers who increasingly depend on the internet for their shopping requirements.

It is a widely known fact that the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company has reinvented the business strategy by making huge investments to ramp up its online capabilities, amidst growing competition from arch-rival Amazon (AMZN). As the company continues its mission to divert traffic from Amazon, its digital push has become an ongoing process.

In what could be termed a major milestone in its evolution from a brick-and-mortar enterprise to a multichannel retailer, Walmart is working on a new website to be opened to customers next month. The restructuring of the website, with extra stress on home shopping and fashion, is so comprehensive that once completed it will have an entirely new look.

One of the distinctive features of the spruced-up Walmart.com will be location-based personalization, which allows customers to make decisions specifically for making purchases at their local stores. It will also have an elaborate section for clothing and apparels.

As a prelude to the latest makeover, earlier this year the retail giant started developing an internal cloud network, taking a cue from Amazon’s cloud-powered online platform. Besides enhancing customer experience, the cloud platform allows the company to manage key areas like pricing and inventory more effectively.

Walmart is developing a new shopping website that will be launched next month

Last week, Walmart forged a tie-up with logistics company Postmatesin select cities for its online grocery delivery program, making it easier for customers to take delivery of their items. The company also plans to extend the home delivery services to about 100 new areas from the current six cities, in an apparent move to take on Amazon.

It had a different plan for China, the thriving market where local player Alibaba(BABA) enjoys significant clout. After shunning the Alipay payment platform, Walmart joined hands with Tencent to meet its digital payment needs in the region.

Among peers, Target (TGT) recently redesigned its shopping website, giving the landing page a flashy look with details of its clothing and home décor brands. Similarly, Macy’s (M) customers will soon be able to use its revamped shopping website.