Walmart's New Approach To Fulfillment: The Drive-Thru
By Hannah Ash, contributing writer
Walmart Puts Fulfillment At The Forefront Of Retail Commerce Strategy
In the same week that a new drive-thru grocery concept officially launched in Kansas, Walmart continued its plans for building its first drive-thru fulfillment center in Bentonville, AR. After test-driving drive-thru options in eleven Denver,CO locations, CEO Bill Simon stated the retailer decided to create fulfillment-only centers in addition to bringing drive-thru functionality to select existing centers. Walmart’s innovative approach to fulfillment sets a high bar for other retailers looking to innovate new ways to break down barriers and deliver orders.
According to corporate spokeswoman Deisha Barnett, the Bentonville facility is slated to be 15,000 square feet and will hold 10,000 different fresh and dry grocery products. Barnett and Simon both have made comparisons to fast food chain Sonic’s model. Similar, Barnett says, to placing an order through Sonic Pick-up, customers will select their purchases online and then choose a pick-up time. Once a customer arrives at the facility, the grocery order will be delivered to the vehicle. While Walmart’s European subdivision Asda has offered drive-thru shopping for sometime, the Bentonville facility will be the retailer’s first drive-thru in North America. CEO of NewMarketBuilders Carol Spiekerman put forth that Walmart’s continued omni-channel innovation pushes the front of the pack, commenting, “no retailer other than Amazon is matching Wal-Mart’s ‘multi-testing’ mojo these days and Walmart will reap the benefits of working the kinks (and costs) out before many others even get started.”
Amazon has been busy in the past few months as it innovates to capture more convenience-motivated sales: in April alone the retailer launched a talk-or-point home shopping tool and a new shipping option called Prime Pantry. Also in April, Target expanded upon its subscription shopping service to offer over 1,000 products while Home Depot has scaled back new store openings and reset the focus on fulfillment centers. The future of shopping appears to be based in fulfilling orders however and wherever customers want - and Walmart’s move toward this flexibility carries industry weight. Barnett reflects, “we know at Walmart our customers’ needs are changing. They want and need more shopping options and we have the means to give them low prices, wide assortments along with value and convenience in a seamless shopping experience.”