Walmart is launching a new concept known as “dark stores.” According to AL.com,, the new stores will not be open to the public. Instead, they will only be used to fulfill online orders. In an earnings call earlier this year, the company said the dark stores will make online deliveries more efficient.
“Delivery speed continues to help drive our business. We’ll soon reach 95% of the population in the U.S. with delivery options of three hours or less,” Walmart’s chief executive officer Douglas McMillon said during the call, per AL.com.
Walmart, which already opened the first dark store in Dallas, Texas, plans to soon expand the concept to the company’s hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas.
What are the features of Walmart’s new dark stores?
The new dark stores are not made to stand out like Walmart’s regular stores. However, the inside of the stores will feature many of the items people usually get from Walmart. Although the public is not allowed inside, the items will be delivered from here when customers make online orders.
Greg Cathey, senior vice president of Walmart U.S. transformation and innovation, spoke about how the company is finding new ways to make shopping more efficient. In a statement that came out earlier this year, Cathey said Walmart is “pushing the boundaries of convenience to better serve our customers, making shopping faster and easier than ever before.”
What are some other new ideas Walmart is implementing to improve the shopping experience?
Walmart recently announced that it’s expanding its drone delivery system to improve the shopping experience for customers. The company said drone delivery is already available in Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando and Tampa, but the idea will soon be used in more locations.
Per Walmart, the company started delivering items with drones in 2021 and it has already “completed more than 150,000 deliveries within minutes.”
“With the expansion, the company is set to make shopping even more convenient for its shoppers — offering thousands of products delivered directly to their door, faster than ever — in 30 minutes or less,” the company stated.
