Aiming for 65 per cent of stores to be automated by 2026: Walmart

Walmart said on Tuesday (April 4) that 65 per cent of its stores will be serviced by automation by the end of the fiscal year 2026. The latest announcement comes just days after the grocery chain announced that it plans to lay off more than 2,000 people at stores that fulfil online orders.

The announcement, amid the US retail giant's annual investor meeting in Tampa, Florida, comes as Walmart increasingly uses its huge stores to handle online-order deliveries and invests heavily in automation to speed up order processing at its e-commerce fulfilment facilities.

It was not immediately clear if this move would lead to more layoffs at the country's biggest private employer, with about 1.7 million USworkers and another 60,000 abroad. The company said the movewould reduce the need for lower-paid roles.

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"As the changes are implemented across the business, one of the outcomes is roles that require less physical labour but have a higher rate of pay," the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said in a filing.

"Over time, the company anticipates increased output per persondue to automation, while maintaining or even increasing its number of associates as new roles are created," it added.

The company said that about 55 per cent of packages that are processed through fulfilment centres will be moved through automated facilities by January 2026. It said that this would improve unit cost averages by about 20 per cent.

"This increased efficiency will not only support better inventory management, but it will also support Walmart's rapidly growing e-commerce business," Stephens Inc analyst Ben Bienvenu wrote in a note.

(With inputs from agencies)

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