Walmart introduces new in-home product testing for brands

by | Jan 27, 2025 | E-commerce News

Walmart is launching a program allowing verified customers to receive products at their homes, test them, and provide feedback to suppliers.

The in-home user test program is exclusively for suppliers that subscribe to the company's insight platform, Walmart Luminate (being rebranded as Scintilla in February), which helps brands design surveys to collect customer feedback on new or existing products.

The new in-home tests will be exclusively available to Walmart's Customer Spark community, which is an invitation-only group of shoppers that Walmart has used to conduct surveys with since 2018 and began utilizing for Luminate clients in 2022.

Modern Retail notes that suppliers often turn to third-party research companies rather than retailers to perform product testing, but now Walmart can provide the service directly by tapping into its massive customer base and data capabilities.

Duracell was one of the first brands to trial Walmart's user tests back in September ahead of its new packaging launch. The company wanted to ensure that its new paper-based packaging resonated with shoppers, so it targeted Walmart shoppers who had previously purchased batteries. Walmart and Duracell found that battery buyers overwhelmingly preferred the new packaging and appreciated the move to recyclable packaging.

Linda Lomelino, group director of product management for Walmart Data Ventures, said:

“Other research companies may have to tap into their panels or other third-party panels, and so what makes our capability unique is obviously the scale of Walmart, but also the value of our community. Because it’s an invitation-only community that leverages our customer database. We know who these customers are, and we can verify their transactional and behavioral data.”

“What we’re doing is essentially helping de-risk products going to market that maybe don’t resonate with customers, or helping suppliers really understand what may be wrong with a product so that they can correct those, iterate and launch better products in the future.”

Do you think Amazon will launch a similar user testing experience in the near future?

Amazon currently offers a service called Amazon Vine that allows customers to test products and write reviews, but it is meant to inform other customers rather than suppliers. However the company could easily leverage its network of customers, creators, associates, and product testers to offer brands a similar testing ground for products. 

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