Name: Walmart turns four stores into e-commerce laboratories as online sales surge
Brand: cnbc.com
SKU: cnbc-com-1130
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Walmart turns four stores into e-commerce laboratories as online sales surge

preview

Key Points is turning four of its stores into laboratories that test ways to turn the retailer's huge physical footprint into a more powerful edge for e-commerce.The big-box giant said Thursday that it's designating two stores near its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and two others that will be announced later. It said the stores and their employees will try out approaches that better blend the brick-and-mortar and digital sides of the business and improve the experience for customers.Walmart, like other retailers, has seen more of its sales shift online during the coronavirus pandemic. Walmart's e-commerce sales ended July 31. Yet even before the global health crisis, the company focused on using its numerous stores as an advantage over and other competitors.For this new effort, employees will use digital tools, store design features and different strategies that could speed up restocking shelves and fulfilling online orders. They will test an app that uses artificial intelligence to scan multiple boxes in the back room rather than one at a time as they move them to the store floor. They will use new store signage and handheld devices to cut down the time it takes to pick an online order. And product and technology teams will be based at the stores to accelerate the pace of prototyping.Walmart will also try to better sync up its apparel assortment at the test stores. Some apparel is not currently listed online. If the store and the website have the same shirts or sweaters, customers have more ways to get those goods — such as retrieving them through curbside pickup or having them shipped to the home.The company said it will tinker with the checkout area, too, testing designs, hardware and software that make customers' purchases faster, easier and more contact-free.John Crecelius, Walmart's senior vice president of associate product and next generation stores in the U.S., said in a post on the company's website that simple changes can pay off. For example, he said, the percentage of times that employees picking an online order find the item on their first attempt has gone up by 20% in some of its tricky merchandise categories when it's added the signage and handheld devices. The signage was inspired by airport terminals, with a letter and a number.He said Walmart will announce more ways it will use its stores to drive online growth.Walmart has more than 4,700 stores in the U.S. More than 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of one of its stores. That can make them convenient hubs for fulfilling online orders for curbside pickup or delivery.Here's why Walmart+ membership program is being compared to AmazonRelated TagsGot a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you.Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inboxGet this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.&nbsp;© 2020 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.Data also provided by

Key Points is turning four of its stores into laboratories that test ways to turn the retailer's huge physical footprint into a more powerful edge for e-commerce.The big-box giant said Thursday that it's designating two stores near its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and two others that will be announced later. It said the stores and their employees will try out approaches that better blend the brick-and-mortar and digital sides of the business and improve the experience for customers.Walmart, like other retailers, has seen more of its sales shift online during the coronavirus...

public

Melissa Repko

cnbc.com

Credible

Speculation

Anecdotal Evidence

Generalization

Stacking the Deck

Appeal to Authority

Straw Man

Slippery Slope

Emotional Appeal

Red Herring

False Dilemma

Illogical

Moral Equivalency

Ad Hominem

Correlation w/o Causation

Semantics

Begging the Question

Faulty Analogy

Non Sequitur

Bandwagon

Dogmatism

Failing Occam's Razor

Biased

Pure Opinion

Hit Piece

Racial Bias

National Bias

Religious Bias

Financial Incentive

Political Agenda

Gender Bias

Misused Image/Video

Study Misinterpreted

Mistake

Misused Term

Science Misrepresented

Factual Error

Satire

Surface Level

Lack of Reliable Sources

Sensational

Not Credible

Investigative

Balanced

Well Sourced

Great Context

sports

entertainment

U.S.

international

business

technology

science

culture

politics

media

health

Walmart turns four stores into e-commerce laboratories as online sales surge

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS