Walmart Has a Futuristic Plan to Distribute Fresh Food to Its Stores

It’s hard to remember a time when Walmart wasn’t America’s go-to grocer. But it wasn’t that long ago that the company began to emphasize its stores as a destination for fresh foods. The retail giant scaled up its grocery business during the 2008 recession when more people were looking for value options. Groceries now account for about 60% of the company’s revenue, and it’s now officially America’s largest grocer. And now, Walmart has a brand-new plan to increase its grocery efficiency even further. 

In July, Walmart announced it’s opening five new automated distribution centers nationwide to increase the efficiency and reach of its grocery business. 

CNBC reports that each new distribution center will average 700,000 square feet and include dedicated storage for refrigerated and frozen foods, with software programmed to automate inventory tasks with increased accuracy. Dave Guggina, executive vice president of Walmart’s supply chain, told CNBC that these automated processes will help Walmart save money, not only because they reduce the need for human employees’ intervention but also because they allow the company to better predict which items will sell, so it can keep only the necessary amount on hand.

Since the new distribution centers have about twice the capacity of the current storage facilities, Walmart predicts that more than half of its product will move through the automated locations by 2026. The automation’s efficiency comes into play when fulfilling orders for particular Walmart locations: Robotic arms can prepare a customized pallet for each store, programmed to handle delicate items with care, just as the human employees are trained to do. 

That’s the idea, anyway. While Walmart has built one such facility already in California and is in the process of testing it, we know that robotic assistants have a long way to go to master all the skills that humans bring to the job. Science is still stymied, for example, by how to program a robot to carry a cup of coffee without spilling it. And who else remembers the accident-prone smoothie-making robots of Jamba? 

With 4,600 U.S. stores to stock with fresh food every day, Walmart is investing no small amount of money in these increased efficiencies. And the investment goes well beyond supplying stores, too. Walmart has seen a huge uptick in its grocery delivery service year over year, with more people choosing to shop online rather than in person. That greatly expands the area to which Walmart must distribute fresh food, and automated distribution centers will, in theory, increase the number and variety of items that can be delivered to one’s doorstep. 

Even beyond the five planned automated distribution centers, Walmart is updating existing facilities with automated features. Right now, it’s hard to say whether any of the increased efficiency — and by extension, profit margins — will change much for the brick-and-mortar shopper. It’s possible that the vast robotic underbelly of Walmart will create no ripple effect on the in-store shopping experience whatsoever. Indeed, that might be the whole idea.