Walmart’s Automated Future Can’t Just Be About Profits
The biggest employer in the US envisions dramatically changing the nature of retail work as it deploys robots to take on more and more tasks.
Changing lanes.
Photographer: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFPListening to Walmart Inc. executives talk through the company’s future is a reminder of how difficult the recent past has been. Like a lot of retailers, Walmart was forced to put its e-commerce business into overdrive to meet a pandemic-induced surge in online shopping. It first struggled to fill shelves as shoppers cleared out merchandise and then rushed to shed merchandise when supply chain knots loosened.
Now it says it has big plans to restore operating margins and drive profitability. Over two days this week, Walmart executives outlined their strategy to expand sales by 4% and grow operating income 4% or more over the next three to five years. The company aims to better leverage its online-offline model; diversify income streams; and scale high-return investments. But its most far-reaching tack was automation.