Walmart is on the verge of completely changing the way their consumers make purchases from them on their website. The new Walmart.com is set to run on its own personal platform “Pangaea,” which has been under production since 2011. This program will unite all e-commerce functions in one place along with all localized sites. The company has tested aspects like its own site search tool, which rendered a conversion increase of 20% between 2012 and last year.
What should be exciting for users is that this new change for the company will give its existing site an appealing face lift. Furthermore, the content presented to each user will now be individualized based on previous purchases and habits both in store and online – this content will include product recommendations. For those who frequent a nearby place, the site will also provide information about local stores including news and discounts. This brand new feature will be called “My Local Store” and should create some foot traffic inside of the wholesaler.
In even more exciting news, unlike most other site redesigns, Walmart chose to focus on what would work best on tablet computers first and then expand onto larger screens. This move will undoubtedly make mobile and all usage that much better.
While currently only half of the visitors are using this new platform, everyone should have access to it by the end of August 2014. The e-commerce community will certainly have all eyes on how this website runs and any increase in business the giant receives. Rarely have we seen a company merge online and in-store buying on such a large scale, but here comes Walmart. Furthermore, with SEO being so content driven, and with product reviews having so much influence on purchasing habits, Walmart should make a killing and set new trends.