Walmart is adding four new work centers to existing capacity, which will provide more than 4,000 jobs and make delivery for the next day or two available to more Americans.
The announcement comes at a time when consumers are hoping that packages are being delivered to their homes more than ever before. Although orders online have continued to grow for years, the pandemic has seen a huge surge in such orders as Americans stayed home during the blockade and delivered essentials and other goods to their doors. Although restrictions on coronavirus have been eased, many consumers ’habits of ordering online remain.
Aside from the growth of online orders, Walmart and other retailers are trying to make sure their delivery speeds keep pace with rival Amazon, which offers same-day, one- and two-day delivery options for those who pay for Prime membership. .
Walmart said Friday that four next-generation performance centers will be built over the next three years. Centers that have robotics and machine learning double the capacity and number of orders that can be fulfilled per day. The four execution centers will be able to provide 75% of the U.S. population with delivery of millions of goods in the next or two days, including Marketplace goods delivered by Walmart’s execution services.
Combined with traditional performance centers, Walmart said it could reach 95% of the U.S. population through next or two-day delivery. The company can offer same-day delivery to 80% of the U.S. population using the inventory and features available in its stores.
The next-generation first performance center will open in the summer in Joliet, Illinois, 45 miles (72.4 kilometers) southeast of Chicago. Another will open next spring in McCordsville, Indiana, 20 miles (32.2 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis. A third is set to open in 2024 in Greencastle, Pennsylvania.
Walmart currently has 31 dedicated e-commerce execution centers, 4,700 stores and 210 distribution centers.
