Walmart announced on October 21, 2026 a set of tools that will let AI agents shop and complete purchases on behalf of customers.
The company is introducing Agent Profiles, the Walmart Agent Gateway, and a set of terms for AI agents, which together will let customers shop with Walmart and Sam's Club "through the apps and agents they choose, with clear permissions, controls and protections built in."
Walmart already serves customers through conversational commerce integrations with Meta's Muse, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and others. Reuters noted that the move contrasts with Amazon, which has sought to limit third-party AI shopping agents' access to its platform.
Today, when a customer uses an AI agent on Walmart, the agent signs in using the customer's account, and all purchases appear together without differentiation.
Agent Profiles change that. Each authorized agent receives a dedicated profile within the customer's account, so its purchases can be viewed separately.
Customers can require approval for every purchase or allow the agent to buy within a spending limit they set, and can delete an Agent Profile at any time.
Walmart compared the setup to "adding someone as a cardholder on your credit card." The company said prices shown to an agent will match those shown to a human on Walmart.com. "We price products, not people," Walmart said.
The Walmart Agent Gateway addresses how agents shop. Agents currently navigate Walmart's site through a web browser, following steps designed for people, which Walmart said "can be slow and error-prone."
The gateway gives agents a faster, more reliable way to shop using MCP, and will begin with a beta for companies and developers. It will also help agents find a customer's usual items, such as a preferred brand of milk, without sharing the customer's broader shopping history with the agent.
Walmart's terms set out what agents can and cannot do. Customers must approve agent purchases by default, and Walmart may require additional approvals even within an agent's spending limit.
Agents must not take actions beyond what the shopper intends, cannot add or change payment methods, and can access only the information needed for the task. Walmart's returns process applies, including if an agent does not act as intended. Agents that break the terms will be blocked.
The tools will be available to all Walmart account holders and will not require a Walmart+ membership. Mizuho analyst David Bellinger said in a note that the tools instilled confidence in the "experimental" process of agentic purchases, adding that "the momentum and buy-in from top management teams seems to be making this into a real thing."