Gallery: Walmart's pickup artists

Fulfilling work

Wal-Mart Stores’ commitment to omnichannel was on full display during events at the retailer’s annual Shareholder Week in June in Arkansas. In addition to showing off the company’s first U.S. dedicated Grocery Pickup facility, officials spoke of integrating online offerings to its various formats, circulars and warehouses as part of heavy investment in what officials call a world-class, global e-commerce operation.

In the U.S., Walmart offers online grocery shopping in five cities, offering a combination of delivery and free store pickup. Its e-commerce operation in Bentonville has a 90% customer approval rating. Around 80% of its shoppers in Denver are repeat customers and 75% of customers choose Walmart over competitors in San Jose, the company said.

Above: An associate works at a Walmart.com fulfillment center. The company has opened four new dedicated warehouses in Belthlehem, Pa., Indianapolis, Atlanta and Fort Worth that have five times the SKU capacity of warehouses serving the store network.

Photo courtesy Wal-Mart Stores

Related story: Omnichanneling at Walmart

Sam’s got it

A display demonstrating a new application orchestrating just-in-time pickup capability at Sam’s Club. The app alerts store pickers when a shopper arrives at the club to pick up their orders so items like frozen goods go straight from the freezer to the trunk.

Orange alert

This orange sign at the entrance to a Walmart Supercenter lets shoppers know they can pick up anything they order online at the store. Officials say stores will make physical changes to better accommodate customers using Pickup, which used to be known as “Site to Store.”

Special delivery

This truck is part of a fleet of vehicles taking grocery orders to places like office campuses and industrial parks to serve shoppers’ convenience needs. The truck is outfitted with frozen and refrigerated storage to keep orders fresh.

Related story: Omnichanneling at Walmart

Under review

Keiran Shanahan, VP of operations for Walmart.com, said the company was still evaluating the performance of its Grocery Pickup facility, which opened in Bentonville, Ark., last year. Across the Atlantic, Walmart’s sister company Asda is experimenting with a self-service, unmanned pickup center.

Drive-up

Customers arriving for grocery pickup check in at this station, then proceed to one of 20 lanes to receive orders, never needing to leave their car.

Trunk show

A worker confers with a Grocery Pickup customer before the order goes into the trunk.