Walmart Advanced Systems & Robotics’ Post

The Utopian Future of Retail Logistics. Or is it dystopian? Numerous retailers are already piloting humanoid robots. Robots that articulate, gesture, walk, and sometimes event talk - like humans. Sam's, Walmart, Kroger, and others are already queitly deploying them in select facilities. Most notably, Agility Robotics' robot 'Digit' is being piloted by Amazon. But Agility Robotics just made the whole thing a little more Orwellian. They've announced an AI-powered, cloud-based command and control platform. So this fleet of humanoid robotics that's about to run grocery and e-com hubs? It will soon report to an artificial intelligence viceroy. Technology is quickly bringing us to an inflection point. We might want to start paying attention. _______ 🔹 We grow brands on Amazon. 🔹 We increase velocity in Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Sam's, COSTCO, and lots of other cool retailers. #cpg #cpggrowth #retailgrowth #retailvelocity #omnichannel #retail #amazonagency #retailmedia #shoppermarketing #instacart

Amazon is experimenting with a new approach to streamline grocery shopping by adding automated mini-warehouses to Whole Foods supermarkets. This innovative store format allows customers to order products from Amazon's online store and its supermarket chain, Amazon Fresh, while they shop at Whole Foods. Shoppers can select a variety of items, including those not typically available at Whole Foods, such as Pepsi and Kellogg’s, and pick them up at checkout, all in a single trip. The pilot initiative is designed to enhance convenience and attract more customers by reducing the need for extra trips to different grocery stores. The first of these micro fulfillment centers is being built at a Whole Foods location in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Once operational, the facility will utilize robots to fetch and prepare items for shoppers, who can browse the store while their online orders are processed. This technology-driven expansion is part of Amazon’s larger effort to capture a greater grocery market share by offering a seamless shopping experience that merges its extensive online catalog with in-store convenience.

We are excited to share with you our hashtag#KettyBot in action at Walmart。 In this video, you can see how KettyBot revolutionizes supermarket advertising and product promotion. With its cruising mode, KettyBot smoothly moves through the aisles, attracting everyone's eyes and making shopping a fun experience. With a remarkable passability of 55cm, KettyBot easily adapts to the complex environment of the supermarket, ensuring safe walking and friendly interaction with customers. KettyBot can display the best deals, the new arrivals, or any useful information, making it a powerful tool to engage shoppers and improve their in-store experience. Find out how KettyBot creates innovation and convenience for the retail industry, making shopping more enjoyable and informative. #robotics #roboticautomation #kettybot #service #servicerobot #innovation #future #machinelearning #cleaningrobot #retailindustry #horeca #hospitalityindustry #hopistality

Discount retailers have always operated on thinner margins, which means there is less cash to spend on automation and other upgrades and improvements. This is especially true for grocers and eCommerce retailers. As automation becomes more prevalent, sophisticated, and specialized, prices will to drop, creating opportunity for those that initially could not afford automation. But as of now that's not necessarily the case. Automation in the grocery industry is still relatively new, as the variety of goods to be handled ranges greatly from large heavy items to small delicate items all in the same order. Not super easy to automate. Big grocers like Walmart are investing heavily in automation. Others, like Trader Joe's are avoiding online, and others like Wegmans Food Markets are partnering with companies like Instacart for delivery, but with higher prices. So, how is discount grocery Save A Lot able to open a fully automated fulfilment center in Brooklyn? A place where they have no stores? A combination of sound cost-saving practices and automation is the answer....at least for this pilot program. Save A Lot is partnering with Fabric and Uber Eats to "provide high-quality, low-priced, on-demand grocery deliveries to Brooklynites" by using a highly automated facility, in a very small space, combined with a smaller variety of product offerings, and remote monitoring. "The entire fulfillment center is staffed by 10 people across two shifts, with workers largely responsible for loading groceries into the machine or customers’ grocery bags." This combination allowed Save A Lot to establish a presence in a market that normally would not be as attractive to them. "While smaller than many other grocers, Save A Lot stores still typically need at least 12,000-square-feet of space for a traditional grocery store. It would likely cost several million dollars and take at least two years to open one in Brooklyn... the 4,000-square-foot micro-fulfillment center, by contrast, cost $1 million and was built in four months." #CSCCSCM #discountretail #groceries #automation #foodandbeverage #homedelivery #ecommerce #lastmile #supplychain #logistics

🤖 Amazon Tests Robotic Warehouses at Whole Foods for Convenient In-Store Pickups Amazon is trialing a new initiative to integrate mini robotic warehouses within Whole Foods supermarkets, aiming to enhance customer convenience and capture a larger share of the grocery market. As part of the pilot program, a micro-fulfillment center is being constructed at a Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, set to be operational within the next year. This innovative setup allows shoppers to browse Whole Foods while ordering items from Amazon’s extensive online store, including everyday essentials from brands not typically found at Whole Foods. With automated robots fetching and bagging items like beverages, snacks, or household goods, customers can pick up their online purchases during checkout. Amazon’s goal is to reduce the need for extra grocery trips, addressing the common habit of U.S. consumers shopping at multiple stores weekly. The move aligns with Amazon's broader strategy to expand its grocery business, a category where competition is fierce, with rivals such as Walmart and Kroger. For more details, read the original article on CNBC. #Amazon #WholeFoods #RoboticWarehouses #GroceryMarket #Ecommerce #RetailInnovation #ConvenienceShopping #DigitalTransformation #LogisticsOptimization #ArtificialIntelligence #Automation #RetailTech #GroceryShopping #OnlineShopping #CustomerExperience #Ecomisor

Walmart doesn’t make dumb moves. Careful experimentation and execution are hallmarks of the company. #coldstorage optimization and #automation implementation reinforces where the ball is going. What are you doing to get ready? #supplychain #WMS #wes #robotics https://lnkd.in/eMpNKWj8.

Seeing the Tally robot at Carrefour last weekend was inspiring. It navigated aisles, scanned shelves, and ensured accurate stock and pricing. This technology reduces errors and enhances efficiency, showcasing Carrefour's commitment to innovation. I imagined how this technology enhances the supply chain world, and then how AI will help even more in the future. #RetailInnovation #InventoryManagement #Carrefour #TallyRobot #Automation #SupplyChainExcellence #AIinRetail

Retailers are transforming last-mile delivery to tackle high costs and inefficiencies in the e-commerce era. Key strategies highlighted by CNBC include: 🏭 Smart Warehousing: Placing fulfillment centers near urban areas and using stores as distribution points to cut delivery times and costs. 🚲 Crowdsourcing: Partnering with third-party services and local couriers to handle delivery spikes, ensuring flexibility and cost savings. 🤖 Route Optimization: Utilizing AI for efficient route planning to reduce travel time and operational expenses. 📈 Transparency: Implementing real-time tracking to enhance customer satisfaction and reduce missed deliveries. 🚚 Reverse Logistics: Streamlining returns management to save costs and improve customer experience. Innovations like EVs, autonomous vehicles, drones, and robots are also reshaping the landscape, driving efficiency and meeting environmental standards. By embracing these solutions, retailers aim to meet customer expectations and enhance operational efficiency. Link in the comments for the full article. #ecommerce #logistics #lastmile #middlemile #innovation #supplychain ____________________ 🛍 Interested in learning about the SaaS solutions that Walmart Commerce Technologies has brought to market to overcome in-store operational headaches and supply chain frustrations? Get in touch 📩 yazmin.hanley@walmart.com 📧

I continue to be impressed with the level of investment and innovation Walmart is pursuing to automate their supply chain. Great video of their investments in action at their Brooksville, FL DC. Beyond the DC, they are making innovations in eCommerce by using their stores as 'mini DC's'; using AI to more efficiently route trucks, saving 30 million miles; commercializing their software for external use; and digitizing their overseas procurement processes. #walmart #supplychain #technology #innovation

#ModernExpo_retailnews Rewe has recently opened Europe’s largest autonomous supermarket in Hamburg, with a surface area of 1,200 sqm, thus reclaiming the record from its competitor, Netto. The German supermarket chain has expanded its checkout-free system with computer recognition. Following extensive tests in Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Munich, the large Pick&Go supermarket in Hamburg’s Hoheluft West district now offers a selection of over 20,000 items within a retail area of more than 1,200 sqm. As a result, it now holds the title of “Europe’s largest autonomous supermarket,” taking over from competitor Netto (in Regensburg). The store operates entirely autonomously and offers four different payment options for customers. They can choose to queue at the traditional staffed checkout, use the self-scanning checkout, pay cashless via the Pick&Go app, or utilize computer-vision-enabled terminals, eliminating the need for scanning. According to Rewe, the last option is the real game changer, which now allows customers to use without the Pick&Go app. The third and fourth payment options rely on smart cameras with image recognition technology. These cameras recognize items that customers take from the shelves and place into their trolleys or bags. This technology is similar to what Amazon uses in its Go supermarkets with the ‘Just Walk Out’ option. However, Amazon recently stated that this technology was unprofitable as it proved very expensive and required constant human checks from India to train the AI system. #ModernExpo #wearemodern #wecreateretailnew #GoModern