Wal-Mart website to customize shopping

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Wal-Mart, in its latest bid to compete with nemesis Amazon.com, is rebuilding its website to further personalize the online shopping experience of each customer.

Wal-Mart is rolling out a feature that will enable its website to show shoppers more products that they may like, based on previous purchases. It also will customize Wal-Mart’s home page for each shopper based on the customer’s location, local weather and the customer’s search and purchase history.

So if a new mom just bought a stroller or crib on Walmart.com, the revamped website might recommend diapers and car seats, too. And if someone who lives in Dallas searches the website for sports jerseys, Walmart.com could suggest Rangers or Dallas Cowboy gear.

The increased personalization is part of a series of changes to improve the online shopping experience of its customers that are rolling out now and over the next few months. The retailer is looking to boost its business online at a time when its U.S. discount division has seen disappointing sales.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s e-commerce sales increased by 30 percent to more than $10 billion in its fiscal year that ended Jan. 31. By comparison, Wal-Mart’s U.S. discount division has had five-straight quarters of sales declines at stores opened at least a year. Wal-Mart sees big growth opportunity in the online business: Online sales still are only a fraction of the $473 billion Wal-Mart generated in overall annual revenue, dwarfed by Amazon’s $60.9 billion in annual sales.

The move to personalize websites for shoppers has become a top priority for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers such as Wal-Mart as they play catch-up with Amazon.com, the online king that pioneered customizing content for shoppers.