The big-box retailer is adding automation to more of its distribution centers, fulfillment centers and stores.
BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — At first glance, this warehouse looks like many: Forklifts unload pallets from the back of dozens of tractor trailers. Canned soup, soda and cleaning supplies whiz by on conveyer belts. Store-bound merchandise gets sorted by department and store aisle before getting stacked high like an elaborate game of Tetris.
Walmart's automation is a piece of a broader plan to drive profits higher. CEO Doug McMillon said in the coming years the retailer's revenue will grow about 4% year over year — a slower growth rate than the approximately 8% it saw in the past three pandemic-fueled years, but still faster than growth of 3.1% and 3.6% the retailer posted in the three years prior to the pandemic.
He said Walmart has given customers more ways to shop online and get those purchases faster. It offers more general merchandise, including exclusive brands in categories like apparel. And it has more sellers that have joined its third-party marketplace, too. In three years, Walmart anticipates that about two-thirds of its stores will be serviced by some kind of automation, about 55% of fulfillment center volume will move through automated facilities and that unit cost averages could improve by about 20%.For Walmart, the country's largest employer, the automation push means rendering obsolete some of its 1.6 million roles.
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