Walmart activates automated e-commerce logistics center in California

Walmart has officially opened its fifth high-tech fulfillment center. The 900,000 square foot facility, located in Stockton, California, expands capacity for processing online orders and the ability to provide faster shipping and delivery for customers across the West Coast, the retailer announced on Thursday.

Walmart Fulfillment Services, the company’s end-to-end third-party fulfillment service, will also leverage the space to fulfill items sold by merchants on Marketplace. The next-generation e-commerce center features advanced automation, technology and AI-powered systems to move products more efficiently.

A high-density storage and retrieval system reduces the traditional 12-step fulfillment process to five steps, reducing repetitive, manual tasks while allowing Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) to move products throughout the building more efficiently, resulting in increased storage and order capacity compared to a traditional fulfillment center.

Walmart said the facility’s location in California’s Central Valley adds significant fulfillment capacity closer to West Coast customers, helping the company offer faster shipping options on millions of items and taking pressure off other fulfillment centers in its network.

Walmart operates four other next-gen fulfillment centers in Joliet, Illinois; McCordsville, Indiana; Greencastle, Pennsylvania; and Lancaster, Texas. They are located in strategic markets to enable next-day or two-day shipping to 95% of the U. S. population, according to the company. E-commerce sales now represent 23% of total sales at Walmart.

The company says faster delivery helps motivate customers to place orders. In August, it announced plans to build a sixth ultra-modern e-commerce logistics hub, covering 1. 5 million square feet, in Carnesville, Georgia. Construction is expected to begin towards the end of the year.

Walmart said its total investment in the project, which includes hiring, will be $1. 3 billion. Both the Stockton and Carnesville location will employ more than 1,000 workers at full operation.

Why It Matters: Walmart is competing with Amazon, Target and other retailers for online sales and fast fulfillment capability helps motivate customers to complete digital checkouts. Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch. Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves. com.

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