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Three Walmart stores in New Jersey and Arkansas will trial a system that uses employees as couriers for online orders as well. The employees will deliver the packages on the way to and from their work.
Cheaper and faster
Employees are not forced to participate, but can earn a bit more if they decide to do so. An app contains their routes and Walmart will also check their background and vehicles.
There are a few major advantages for Walmart: the “last mile”, which is traditionally the most expensive part of a delivery, will become cheaper and most of the packages in the pilot program were delivered within a day, instead of the two-day home delivery the company usually uses. In short, the American department store chain can work faster and cheaper in the new system.
If Walmart decides to expand the system to every store, that would be a significant logistical leap forward: it has 4,700 stores in the United States and about 1.5 million employees. On top of that, it also owns 6,100 trucks and if everything contributes, Walmart hopes to close the logistical gap on its competitor Amazon.
When the company’s plan becomes fully operational, the online orders will be shipped to the stores with its own trucks and the employees will then handle the last mile. If there are not enough couriers in its own ranks, it will use regular delivery services.
