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WALMART has committed some serious cash to improve its business strategies this year.
The retail giant recently invested a whopping $1.2 billion in crucial benefits for customers as it moves to perfect its operations.
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With e-commerce at the forefront of shopping experiences for American consumers today, many brick-and-mortar brands are adapting to keep up with giants like Amazon.
Some experts say Walmart is leading that race, per eTail.
Walmart has been positioning itself as an omnichannel retailer for some time.
Omnichannel refers to a business strategy that seeks to provide a cohesive and comprehensive consumer experience through in-store, mobile, and online shopping, per Oracle.
Walmart+ members get the most out of that approach for an annual fee of $98 per year.
For example, they can shop in-store with ease using their phones and the Scan & Go feature, which allows them to scan all of their items and generate a single barcode before even getting to the checkout area.
They can also head online and order groceries or other merchandise to be dropped off at their house with free delivery and shipping.
WALMART’S WAY
Walmart CEO Doug McMillion promised customers a seamless shopping experience this year and beyond.
“We will be the first to deliver a seamless shopping experience at scale,” McMillion told eTail.
“No matter how you choose to shop with us, through your mobile device, online, in a store, or a combination, it will be fast and easy.”
“There’s a race to do this right, but only Walmart can bring together a dense network of stores, supported by a supply chain and systems like ours, with an emerging set of digital capabilities to win with customers,” he continued.
MOBILE FIRST
One of those digital capabilities includes geo-fencing technology.
The tech, now implemented at all of the chain’s over 4,600 US stores, helps let Walmart stores know when customers arrive at the parking lot to get an online pickup order.
It can detect their loyalty accounts on their phones and gadgets almost instantly.
No matter how you choose to shop with us, through your mobile device, online, in a store, or a combination, it will be fast and easy.
Doug McMillon
Additionally, Walmart introduced a wish list feature for customers.
The wish list lets those who want to save favorite items do so at home through the Walmart mobile app or website, and customers in-store to scan them using their phone to add to the list.
McMillion said the company expects the success of the geo-fencing technology and the wish list to only grow as 2024 comes to a close.
“We expect more than 210 million visits to our app in November and December, up from 18 million in 2021,” he noted.
PICKUP PROFITS
All of Walmart’s moves, according to the CEO, are part of its mission in “deepening our digital relationships with out customers.”
That’s happening through multiple avenues, like grocery pickup services, which is now available at over 140 Walmart stores.
McMillion said it’s become a significantly profitable move for the brand.
“We’ve accelerated our expansion of online grocery pickup and we’ve seen that customers who start using online grocery spent nearly 50% more than similar customers who only shop in stores,” he told eTail.
“This is the customer we’re going after. The shopper in our sweet spot who accesses Walmart in multiple ways.”
Walmart also made waves earlier this spring for testing a drone delivery service in Texas.
It was later pulled and reduced to only one area.
