Eko helps consumers discover products.
Eko, an AI-driven ecommerce company, has transformed online product pages by creating video images that allow consumers to more deeply experience items. Founded by Yoni Bloch, an Israeli singer with three albums to his name, Bloch created music videos for Cold Play and Bob Dylan, but wanted a more sustainable business proposition. He found that retailers’ online product pages were ripe for innovation.
“We went from the world of entertainment and storytelling to the much more boring world of ecommerce and we found out this interesting thing about product detail pages,” Bloch said. “It’s actually a very important moment in shopping. You’re deciding whether you want to buy an item and the page hasn’t been changed in the last 30 years since ecommerce started. It actually looks the same with text and a small gallery on the side that shows you pretty boring photos.”
Walmart, a foundational partner, has implemented Eko’s technology over the last 18 months and has increased sales across a variety of high-consideration items in the electronics, home goods, toys, and baby categories. Walmart and Eko are set to continue their partnership into 2025, during which time it’s anticipated they will release hundreds of thousands of products on Walmart.com and its mobile applications.
“It’s inspiring to see how our associates are leveraging Eko’s technology to make shopping with us more enjoyable and convenient,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Walmart. “Around the world Walmart’s goal is simple: We’re focused on saving our customers and members both money and time. We’ll continue to leverage great tech to give them the best possible experience.”
When customers experience products through Eko, it positively impacts metrics such as gross merchandise value and lowers the rate of returns and increases both conversion rates and engagement because shoppers feel more confident about what they’re buying, Bloch said. Now Walmart is implementing Eko across its entire catalog.
After testing on thousands of items Eko will now be found on millions of items, making Walmart the first retailer to commit to video-based product pages across its entire catalog. “It’s a huge scale, a really big deal for us,” Bloch said. “We’re hiring hundreds of people and creating this huge capability. It really combines the incredible scale of the millions of items that Walmart brings and our capability which makes sure that each item is incredibly cinematic and engaging and exciting.”
Eko uses data-driven insights to optimize and personalize customer experiences. The company creates one-on-one experiences for customers that optimize the product gallery and increase certainty and confidence. “Imagine you’re going shopping for a stroller,” said Bloch. “We know if it’s the first time you’ve been to the site or the third time or the tenth time. We tailor what we show you in the gallery. The first time, we show you all the things that you technically need to know. On the third time, you’ll see social proof or other people using those strollers.
“We’re a technology company but we’re not selling technology, we’re trying to reimagine the shopping experience,” Bloch said. “We’re coming with a big appetite. We feel this world of ecommerce hasn’t changed and hasn’t evolved. People are taking the same experience and making little iterations, but nobody’s reimagined it.”
