Walmart is building warehouses with a high-tech spin in hopes of delivering items to customers more quickly and growing its online business.
The retailer said Friday it plans to build four new fulfillment centers that use automation to pack and ship online orders more efficiently, with the first location opening this summer in Illinois. For customers, the new warehouses will mean next-day or two-day delivery could be more common for items including cereal and T-shirts.
The plans come as Walmart competes with online retail giant Amazon, which has made it easy for customers with Prime memberships to order a wide range of items and have them delivered within a day or so. With more of Walmart’s sales coming from its website in recent years, it already has 31 facilities that prepare online orders. More than 3,500 of its stores, or about 75% of its locations, also fulfill online orders.
Source: CNBC