How do you airlift a dozen eggs, fly them over a mile in 30 minutes or less, then drop the carton from 80 feet in the sky, hitting the target without cracking a single shell?
It isn’t an end-of-year physics-class problem, but a challenge that (ticker: WMT) tackled, and solved, with its drone-delivery rollout. The drones, operated in partnership with companies such as DroneUp, fly over routes optimized to avoid disrupting the public, lowering products—including carefully cushioned eggs—to a precise point on a customer’s property before returning to their launchpads. The growing program (whose shoppers more frequently opt for rotisserie chicken and Red Bull) is available from three dozen stores in seven states, including Florida and Texas. Although a niche service for now, it’s emblematic of the ongoing quest at the world’s largest retailer to harness technology to enhance its core business—and expand into new, more profitable ones—all while keeping (AMZN), with its own fleet of drones, at bay.
From automation to artificial intelligence, the pandemic supercharged retail’s embrace of tech: Walmart alone has doubled its global e-commerce business over the past three years. Yet that sea change has come with plenty of obstacles, from the threat of digital-native businesses, to the staggering price of software development, to consumers’ increasing and costly demands for speed and convenience.
To dominate this new world, Walmart has no choice but to be at the cutting edge. The good news is that, after some initial missteps, the company is proving it has the deep pockets—and the culture of experimentation—to do so.
Continue reading this article with a Barron’s subscription.
Only $8 per month
View Options
Source: https://www.barrons.com/articles/buy-walmart-stock-price-pick-b2f6a90f?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo