In the United States, more than 60 million people are of Hispanic descent. For this reason, Walmart through its Walmart Global Tech Associates team decided to “prioritize improving search functionality in Spanish.”
In 2021 Walmart launched a search translation feature on Walmart.com and its app. Thus, customers can search for various articles in Spanish. What’s new is that this month it started offering the option to accept or reject a translated query.
Leonardo Lescano, Manager of Experience Engineering in Spanish at Walmart Global Tech explained. The New Herald The developed solution “uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to detect language, detect nuances and translate queries to provide an intuitive and seamless experience for customers.”
Lezcano comments, “Natural language processing helps people understand what they mean when they request a type of product, and query accessibility is important even if the query contains regional semantic nuances. Recognize that a person is looking for popcorn (Mexico). Whether they type popcorn (El Salvador, Cuba), crispetas (Colombia) or gotufa (Venezuela), it’s important to ensure that all of our customers are looking for products that feel natural to them.
Online shopping at Walmart in Spanish
The increase in Spanish-language queries on the app and website has more than quintupled during the pandemic. Hence the company’s interest in improving your online shopping experience.
Today Walmart.com Translates queries into Spanish allowing you to find over 600,000 items.
“The Spanish search that we offer at Walmart Online allows you to find any product sold by Walmart, regardless of its brand or origin,” Lezcano said. He added that it currently translates all kinds of products “from groceries to clothing, cleaning products, household items and toys.”