Walmart sets its sights on automation as the “year of efficiency” marches forward
“I’m sorry, Dave”… I might take your job. Walmart said it expects 65% of its stores to be serviced by automated distribution centers by the end of 2026. America’s largest employer also recently said it would cut 2K+ positions at its ecomm fulfillment centers.
WAL 9000: Walmart pointed to some current distribution centers as a blueprint of what’s to come. Autonomous forklifts unload trailers and track merch for sprawling warehouses, while humans step in to fix problems that require a #sentient touch.
Robo-stores: Walmart has tested self-checkout-only stores in recent years, and plans to expand its use of the Alphabot, an automated system that picks and packs grocery orders.
Big impact: Walmart, which employs 1.6M workers in 5K US stores, said the automation push would reduce the need for lower-paid roles.
The top line… is about the bottom line. As Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said 30+ times on a recent analyst call, 2023 is “the year of efficiency.” Between mass layoffs and the shuttering of big-bet “moonshot” projects (goodbye, Google’s WiFi balloons), companies are laser focused on profit. Google is cutting back on employee laptops and even staplers, while Walmart and Amazon are leaning into machines that create custom-size packages for shipments (think: tiny box for scrunchie delivery) to cut shipping and cardboard costs.
Efficiency doesn’t have to mean cutting back… Companies aren’t axing all their billion-dollar bets — just ones that don’t seem to equal long-term cost savings. While corps like Disney and Microsoft are backtracking on high-flying bets such as the metaverse, they’re still investing in efficiency. Cases in point: Microsoft’s $10B OpenAI investment and Walmart's plans to use some of its $15B capital spending budget to lean into automation tech.