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Walmart Canada Will Invest $3.5 Billion To Modernize Stores, DCs And Supply Chain

Walmart Canada is planning a $3.5 billion (Canadian) investment over the next five years that will impact every aspect of its business. The equivalent in U.S. dollars is $2.58 billion.

At the store level, the funds will go toward:

  • Renovations to nearly one-third of its locations;
  • Expansion of curbside pickup;
  • Piloting “micro fulfillment centers” within supercenters to speed up fulfillment of pickup and delivery orders; and
  • Deploying digitization, robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to make stores smarter.

Walmart Canada will augment and modernize its supply chain with the construction of two new distribution centers equipped with next-generation automation, and the implementation of new warehouse management systems at DCs to help meet the needs of omnichannel consumers.

“Today’s significant investment will position us for future growth and make Walmart Canada even better for our associates and our customers,” said Horacio Barbeito, President and CEO of Walmart Canada in a statement. “We are doubling down on our focus on the customer experience — not just to keep up but to lead and to be the very best in Canada.”

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More than 150 of Walmart Canada’s 408 stores are targeted for renovation. Smart-store tech will include robotics, expanded electronic shelf labels, shelf scanners to monitor product volumes and AI-powered computer vision to turn visual information into actionable data. Expanded checkout options designed to reduce human-to-human contact will include bigger self-checkout areas, tap-to-pay and “Check Out With Me” technology, to allow customers to pay for merchandise anywhere in the store with mobile devices carried by store associates.

Adoption of curbside pickup has accelerated throughout the retail world during the pandemic, and Walmart Canada will expand the company’s Pickup offering to have it available at approximately 270 stores by the end of 2020. The retailer will invest in features such as advanced notification for customers, improvements in fulfillment center operations to increase speed and trackability and a pilot of micro fulfillment centers located in the backrooms of supercenters.

On the distribution front, Walmart Canada will open a 300,000-square-foot DC that is already under construction in British Columbia in 2022, and build a next-generation 550,000-square-foot DC outside Toronto that is slated to open in 2024. By early 2021, new automated systems will be deployed in the Cornwall DC in eastern Ontario to manage apparel, health and beauty, and small general merchandise items.

New WMS and transportation management systems will use telematics and IoT sensors to give real-time information on the quality and freshness of products traveling in truck trailers; AI software to more accurately predict and plan inventory volumes; and a blockchain solution for transportation payments. To improve training of DC and fleet operations personnel, Walmart Canada will use machine-learning-based training software from Axonify.

“The retail business is as dynamic as ever and this investment ensures we’re developing a supply chain that is the envy of the world,” said John Bayliss, SVP, Logistics and Supply Chain in a statement. “This investment will transform our supply chain and create hundreds of Canadian construction jobs along the way.”

Over the past five years, the retailer has put $1 billion (Canadian) into remodeling and opening stores.

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