Walmart is hoping
that they do something with technology that will lead to mass customer
adoption, increased customer relevance while reducing cost and edifying its
relationship with customers according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®
Will self-driving
vans for ‘middle-mile’ logistics be the solution? Johnson, does not think
so. There are three ways to make the
self-driving platform customer relevant and right now Walmart has not focused
on them?
So, here is what they are doing in series
of pilot projects involving autonomous vehicles, Walmart is testing a self-driving van to move customer orders between two
of its stores on a two-mile route in its hometown of Bentonville, Ark.
It is reported that “Walmart will use
robotic vans from tech startup Gatik to help
move goods from its Supercenter in Rogers, Ark., to a Neighborhood Market in
nearby Bentonville. In March, Arkansas passed legislation allowing for
autonomous vehicles to operate in the state.
Tom Ward, senior vice President, digital
operations, Walmart U.S. stated “With
the help of Gatik, we’re making sure we stay on the cutting edge of grocery
pickup,” …. “We aim to learn more about the logistics of adding autonomous
vehicles into our online grocery ecosystem, operation process changes and more
opportunities to incorporate this emerging technology.”
During the test, Gatik will run three of
its modified Ford Transit Connect vans up to 10 times a day, seven days a
week, during daylight hours and with human safety operators as backup. The tech
company’s goal is to help cut human labor in mundane tasks that are not
consumer front-facing, such as transportation between stores.
Johnson believe that Walmart continues to
play catch-up with Amazon and other retailers when it comes to technology and
that too garner customer buy-in the technology touch points need to be customer
facing.
Foodservice Solutions® specializes in
outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify
additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and
brand and menu integration strategy. Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche
visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.twitter.com/grocerant/
Battle for Share of Stomach
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