UNITED STATES - A significant shift in strategy is underway for Walmart. Plans to shutter its Store No. 8 business unit hit the wires yesterday afternoon, as the big box retailer reported that it looks to curb costs and test technology in new ways.
One of these new technology strategies may already be underway. As we reported earlier this year, Walmart revealed several new technologies at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that speak to the company’s overarching plan for innovation. These technologies support an adaptive retail model, one that predicts what its consumers need and delivers it to them.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Walmart launched the Store No. 8 unit seven years ago in a bid to compete with Amazon’s growing online business. At the time, Walmart had recently purchased Jet.com and placed its Founder, Marc Lore, at the head of the company’s e-commerce operations. But as we know within the retail sector, a lot can change in seven years—and companies have to adapt and change with the needs of the market.
“We’ve graduated capabilities from this operating approach that are now fully embedded in our organization,” said Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey in a staff memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
Over the past seven years, almost 300 Store No. 8 workers moved on to other internal jobs, he said. “The responsibility to shape the future of retail is now shared by all segments,” Rainey added.
As Rainey went on to note, many of the ideas within Store No. 8 have either already been adopted by Walmart or dismissed. For example, Walmart now offers online delivery to shoppers’ homes and shopping over text message based on Store No. 8 tests, according to Rainey.
As Walmart continues to test new technologies and present them to the wider retail arena, it’s safe to say that technology is not taking a backseat. It will be interesting to see what this shift in strategy brings, and ANUK will be here to report on it.
