Walmart to open pop-up e-distribution centres

The eDCs are planned to meet growing demand for home delivery of online orders. Walmart expects to send out up to 30% of its holiday volume from these pop-up eDCs.

The move follows Amazon’s use of tents to create temporary delivery stations to support last-mile delivery of packages during demand surges since April 2019.

Meyar Sheik, president and chief commerce officer of Kibo, said,

“This is a direct shot across the bow to Amazon. The move from Walmart further levels the playing field against Amazon’s distribution and logistics advantage as it pertains to expedited shipping options such as one-day or same-day delivery.”

Walmart’s technology team has been working on new and enhanced supply chain systems. A multi-channel sourcing engine (MCSE) scans the entirety of the company’s fulfilment network in less than a second and assigns orders to eDCs when it determines they offer the fastest and most efficient option to fulfil an online order.