Dive Brief:
- Walmart sees Sparky, its customer-facing AI assistant, becoming “the primary vehicle for discovery, shopping and for managing everything from reorders to returns,” President and CEO Doug McMillon said on a Q2 2026 earnings call Thursday.
- AI technology as a whole hasn’t had an impact on sales yet, but the company is laying the foundations for future growth, according to McMillon. The retailer’s businesswide AI framework and AI-focused leadership roles will help Walmart achieve this goal.
- “It's exciting to think about the productivity opportunities, but when we wake up in the morning, we're thinking about how we can serve customers better using AI,” McMillon said during the call.
Dive Insight:
It’s still early days for agentic AI, but Walmart is investing in a future where automated assistants play an important role in customer experience.
Sparky is already garnering positive customer feedback, and Walmart plans to develop more agentic capabilities for the tool over time, according to McMillon. The goal is to make Sparky feel smarter and more personalized.
“We see Sparky becoming an indispensable part of how people shop with us,” McMillon said.
AI’s impact on the experience goes beyond its customer-facing aspects, according to McMillion. The technology is enabling the company to utilize a range of data to better understand the context around why customers shop with Walmart.
“I think it's compelling,” McMillon said. “There are times when you want to replenish your home with the things you buy all the time. There are other times when you're browsing for fun, and I think we're going to do a better job of understanding what the moment calls for and being able to meet the need, whether it's delivery speed or it's the breadth of the assortment.”
Faster delivery speed is already contributing to strong U.S. digital sales, which grew 26% year over year, according to McMillion. Walmart’s global digital sales increased 25% year over year.
About one-third of deliveries from U.S. stores in recent weeks made it to customers in three hours or less, according to EVP and CFO John David Rainey. Of those, 20% reached their recipients in 30 minutes or less.
Walmart’s revenue rose 4.8% year over year to $177.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026, according to a company earnings release.
Global membership revenue grew 15.3%. In the U.S., Sam’s Club membership income grew 7.6% year over year, which was attributed to growth in member counts, renewal rates and Sam’s Club Plus, according to Rainey. Walmart+ membership income grew in the double digits.
