09-04-2025
Exclusive: Walmart AI tool speeds up fashion trends amid trade war
Walmart is tapping into generative AI to speed up how fast it rolls out on-trend fashion items, the company shared exclusively with Axios.
Why it matters: Speed matters in the highly competitive battle for consumers — especially with sweeping tariffs spiking fears of a recession.
Walmart's announcement Wednesday comes a day after the Trump administration said it plans to triple the planned levy on cheap goods from Chinese retailers like Shein and Temu.
The big picture: The world's largest retailer is digging deeper into artificial intelligence to transform the business.
It previously added a generative AI -powered search, an AI-powered product replenishment service and other tools.
Walmart-owned Sam's Club is employing AI to resolve long lines for receipt verification at club exits.
Walmart's Trend-to-Product AI tool
Driving the news: Walmart executives tell Axios the new Trend-to-Product, a "trend-sensing design tool," shortens the production timeline for fashion items by as much as 18 weeks.
The proprietary tech solution developed in-house uses AI and Gen AI to "create cool for customers."
"I think of this as going really from transforming the mundane to magical," Vinod Bidarkoppa, chief technology officer for Walmart International, tells Axios.
The news was publicly unveiled during the company's investment community meeting in Dallas Wednesday.
How it works: Bidarkoppa said it takes a process that used to take six months and revises it to brings trendy items to customers within six weeks.
The Trend-to-Product tool analyzes trends by pulling information from the internet and social media. It then creates mood boards, which designers and merchants use to create the pieces.
Parts of the process shrank from days and weeks to minutes, Bidarkoppa said.
Walmart AI strategy and tariffs
Zoom in: The company has been looking for opportunities to innovate, improve productivity and impact customers, Andrea Albright, Walmart executive vice president, sourcing, tells Axios.
"We knew it would work in apparel. That's one of our hardest to bring to life," Albright said,
Walmart used the tool to create items in the $2 billion No Boundaries brand, which were released in February, Albright said.
What they're saying: "We don't need speed for the sake of speed," Albright said. "Not everything needs to be delivered in stores in six weeks."
The products are coming from different countries depending on the category and "the speed that we need," Albright said.
" Tariffs would also be a consideration in that," Albright said. "The closer that we are into need from a customer standpoint, we'll make better business decisions."
Yes, but: Albright said what Walmart is doing is different than "fast fashion."
"We didn't compromise on our standards of ethical, socially responsible sourcing," she said.
Artificial intelligence to guide more Walmart products
What's next: Walmart plans to use the tool beyond fashion, Albright said.
Trending seasonal items and general merchandise products are priorities in the future.
"I think that there is the opportunity for us to really think differently and then start to bring those things to life in a much faster and an accelerated way," Bidarkoppa said.
