Walmart caters to mobile shoppers

Diving deeper into mobile apps, WalmartLabs – which is Walmart Stores’ innovation lab – has acquired Stylr, a mobile app that allows shoppers to find clothes in nearby stores.

Stylr is WalmartLabs’ 13^th acquisition in the past three years.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The purchase is the latest effort by Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, to develop new digital tools to help create a seamless shopping experience for shoppers who are increasingly shopping from stores and from their mobile phones.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who took the helm in February, vowed Walmart would pick up the pace in technology in his address at the company’s annual shareholders meeting last month.

“It is important that we all understand the shift that has happened in technology and retail, what it means for us, and what we’re doing to win,” said McMillon.

“People now spend more time on digital devices than they do watching TV. A lot of times, they’re doing both at the same time.”

Walmart appears to have a ripe audience: 65% of its customers have smartphones, while 80% of shoppers under the age of 35 do. Half of Walmart smartphone users have used the device in its stores to assist with shopping, Walmart officials say.

Stylr will be removed from the app store by the end of June, said a spokesman for WalmartLabs. Walmart’s own mobile app won’t run Stylr, but its technology will be used to develop future mobile innovations.

WalmartLabs technology enables Walmart’s mobile app to guide shoppers to products and tracks customers’ spending as they shop.

New York-based Stylr’s founders Eytan Daniyalzade and Berk Atikoglu will be joining WalmartLabs in San Bruno, California, as part of the deal.