Retailer stretches grocery pickup
Wal- Mart keen on mobile sales
Wal- Mart Stores Inc. highlighted one of its latest plans to change grocery shopping for customers during its shareholders week events Thursday.
The company is six weeks into testing mobile grocery service to two office-park pickup locations in Phoenix. The tests are geared for busy workers, allowing them to place grocery orders online and pick them up outside the office.
“We’ll continue to try new things and look for new solutions,” said Kieran Shanahan, vice president of operations for Walmart. com.
Wal- Mart gets 56 percent of its annual U. S. revenue from grocery sales. The company has made the expansion of online grocery- shopping business a priority in the U. S, testing delivery and pickup options in five markets.
The company offers home delivery in San Jose, Calif. Denver customers have both pickup and delivery options after ordering online. Huntsville, Ala., and Phoenix are test locations for curbside pickup, and Bentonville is home to
a dedicated grocery- pickup location.
Asda, Wal- Mart’s United Kingdom grocery chain, also is set to test a click- andcollect location attached to a gas station in England. The fully automated location will allow customers to order online and, once arriving at the collection site, scan a code and have the order ready in less than 60 seconds.
Shanahan said the home grocery- shopping concept could be a success in rural areas or in more urban settings.
“I think it will work wherever we deploy it,” Shanahan said.
Here’s a look at more highlights from Thursday’s shareholders week:
VISION CENTER
A new- look vision center was shown to analysts and investors during tours at a Springdale supercenter.
Wal- Mart has vision centers and optometrists in about 3,000 of its 4,500 supercenters. It plans to reposition the eye- care centers next to its pharmacy in new stores and as part of remodeling jobs in other locations.
Carmen Bauza, senior vice president overseeing optical products for Wal- Mart U. S., said the new look is more modern and better organized. She said she hopes to make Wal- Mart more attractive to some suppliers of higher- end, contemporary brands.
“The majority of the changes you’ll see are aesthetics,” Bauza said. “And the location change will help us better reach the customer. Sometimes we miss the customer, being located in the front of the stores.”
Wal- Mart manufactures glasses in facilities in Indiana, Texas and Fayetteville. It recently spent $ 10 million to upgrade its facility in Fayetteville and has similar improvements planned in its other factories.
Eyeglasses are the only product manufactured by the retailer, and Wal- Mart promotes itself as the largest producer of prescription eyewear in the United States. Wal- Mart produces up to 25,000 pairs of eyeglasses a day at three factories it owns and two partner facilities.
DISTRIBUTION
There are 134 Wal- Mart distribution centers for online orders and 11 fulfillment centers dedicated to e- commerce. But the company also has been utilizing about 80 S supercenters as ship- fromstore locations to aid in delivery to customers.
“They’re actually providing just another touch point for the customer,” said Michael Bender, the chief operating officer of Wal- Mart Global e- commerce. “One of the advantages of the ship fromstore opportunity is you’re able to speed the product to the customer much more effectively.”
There’s also an advantage for Wal- Mart. The company reports that its fulfillment costs have decreased nearly 10 percent year- over- year by optimizing how it uses all of its assets.
Wal- Mart has sold more than 7 million items online and expects it to grow to 10 million by the end of the year, according to Fernando Madeira, the chief operating officer of Walmart. com. Madeira also said Wal- Mart will begin a pilot program this week that offers unlimited free shipping service for $ 50 a year.
FOOD
Chartwells, the food service provider for the University of Arkansas, is preparing 72,000 meals throughout shareholders week as part of Wal- Mart’s contract with the school.
Not all of the food prepared will be consumed by Wal- Mart executives, employees, shareholders and guests this week, but University of Arkansas students are making sure it isn’t wasted.
For the second- straight year, volunteers at the Razorback Food Recovery program have been collecting the unserved food to distribute to local agencies like the Salvation Army, Lifesource International and the 7 Hills Center. The food is stored in a freezer truck provided by Tyson Foods, and the local agencies send trucks to pick it up with the help of the student volunteer group.
OPPOSITION
Members of OUR Wal- Mart have staged protests throughout the United States this week as the retailer hosts its annual shareholders week but have been less visible in Northwest Arkansas than in years past.
The group, which calls for improved treatment of Wal- Mart employees, said it is instead focusing its efforts on the actual shareholders meeting, where three members will read proclamations in support of three proposals being considered.
Members of OUR WalMart who gathered in Northwest Arkansas for the meeting said they acknowledge that the company has made strides with recent pay increases and other employee-focused initiatives. They said the organization deserves credit for the changes made by Wal- Mart but wants the retailer to do more.