Amazon and Walmart Race to Become Merchants’ Operating System
The retail landscape used to have four primary levers: share of shoppers, share of sellers, share of advertising dollars and share of wallet. However, artificial intelligence (AI) is creating the fifth and sixth levers: share of decision-making and share of intent infrastructure. Headlines this week across the retail marketplace made that shift visible. Amazon’s upgraded […] The post Amazon and…
In the evolving retail landscape, AI is introducing two new levers: share of decision-making and share of intent infrastructure. Amazon and Walmart are leading the charge in this shift, aiming to become the operating systems for merchants rather than just merchants' platforms. Amazon's Seller Assistant continuously monitors a merchant's business and, within defined limits, recommends or executes actions.
The Multichannel Selling tool consolidates orders, inventory, and catalogs from Walmart, eBay, TikTok Shop, and Shopify into Seller Central. Amazon Ads Agent can now plan, manage, and optimize advertising using natural language instructions. Walmart's Scintilla platform is evolving into "commerce intelligence," utilizing first-party data and AI to identify performance changes and opportunities, which are then connected to actions like inventory replenishment or Walmart Connect campaigns.
Additionally, Walmart announced "Shop to Light," allowing customers to ask for help finding an item through the Walmart app, which then lights up the product location on the shelf. The retail platform is becoming an intelligence layer surrounding transactions. If merchants begin operating their businesses through retailer-owned intelligence layers, they may capture the software spend that previously went elsewhere.
According to a PYMNTS Intelligence report, in May, 48% of businesses using marketplaces reported increased sales through that channel between January 2022 and February 2026, while 57% sold through their own websites. The merchant technology stack has traditionally been fragmented, with sellers using various platforms for eCommerce, marketplace management, ERP tools, logistics, advertising, and analytics.
Amazon's announcements aim to remove these boundaries by providing a unified view of demand, conversion, advertising, inventory, fulfillment, pricing, and customer behavior. Walmart's Scintilla platform, on the other hand, is built around Walmart's first-party commerce data, connecting intelligence to execution, such as replenishing inventory or launching Walmart Connect campaigns.
Both companies are not necessarily looking to replace existing providers but instead aim to become the interface through which merchants decide the functions of those systems. The PYMNTS Intelligence report "Will the 2026 Shopping Season Go Agentic?" found that roughly 132 million people have made retail purchases with AI assistance, while 22% now begin online retail research in an AI tool.
The buyer and seller are not autonomous, as humans still set objectives, permissions, and constraints. However, more tactical decisions between these objectives and the eventual transaction can be delegated to software.
Written by urgent.news from PYMNTS's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
