Amazon and Walmart Expanded AI Tools for Merchants
New AI-powered software from retail giants aims to automate inventory, advertising, and in-store navigation for sellers.
Updated on Oct. 1, 2026 in Retail
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Amazon and Walmart have released new AI tools designed to serve as the operating system for merchant transactions and in-store customer engagement. These updates, which include cross-platform inventory management and intelligent shelf navigation, aim to automate tactical decisions for businesses operating across digital and physical storefronts.
Why it matters
Retailers are positioning their platforms as the primary intelligence layer for merchants to drive efficiency in stock management and marketing. By automating these tactical decisions, platforms are changing how businesses allocate resources across multiple sales channels and in-store environments.
More than 230,000 sellers currently use Amazon's Multichannel Selling tool, with merchants adopting AI-driven recommendations more than 90% of the time. Meanwhile, 132 million people have completed an AI-assisted retail purchase.
The players
Amazon
A global technology and retail company that operates a dominant e-commerce marketplace and provides cloud infrastructure for businesses.
Walmart
A multinational retail corporation operating a massive chain of hypermarkets and a growing digital marketplace ecosystem.
The details
Amazon's Multichannel Selling tool now integrates orders, inventory, and catalogs from platforms like eBay, TikTok Shop, and Shopify directly into its Seller Central. Simultaneously, Walmart has expanded its Scintilla platform into commerce intelligence and introduced a Shop to Light feature that uses the Walmart app to trigger LED lights on store shelves, guiding customers to specific products.
Timeline
January 2022 to February 2026 marked the period measuring SMB marketplace sales growth.
May 2026 saw the release of the PYMNTS Intelligence report on SMB data.
October 1, 2026, marked the announcement of the Walmart Shop to Light feature.
Market Landscape
This move follows the documented trend from the PYMNTS Intelligence report where small businesses increasingly rely on marketplace ecosystems for sales growth. Platforms are now competing to become the primary operating system for merchants, moving beyond simple sales hosting to providing active decision-making support.
Operators should evaluate if integrating these automated recommendations into their existing workflows reduces time spent on channel management. Consider monitoring whether reliance on marketplace-specific AI creates vendor lock-in for your inventory and advertising data.
The takeaway
Retailers are aggressively turning their platforms into automated intelligence hubs for merchants. Business owners should track whether these tools provide meaningful competitive advantages or primarily serve to increase the platform's control over their sales channel strategy.
Further reading
For more on the changing tools available to store owners, see our coverage of Retail.
Source note: This article includes information reported by PYMNTS.
Live Poll
Do you trust retailers acting as the primary operating system for small business sales?
