Yahoo Finance Walmart once completed an order and delivered it in 9 minutes in China
Walmart’s (WMT) China business is setting a high bar when it comes to delivery speed.
In fact, CEO Doug McMillon was so impressed with what’s happening in China with retail that he praised the team’s “ability to innovate for customers with speed” in his most recent management commentary.
“In China, the Sam’s Club business continues to be a highlight for us. We also have the ability to get fresh product, and more, delivered to the customer’s doorstep in about 40 minutes through our network of stores and partnership with JD Daojia,” McMillon wrote last month, when the company reported its first quarter earnings.
Mobile phones are changing the way people pay, shop and live their lives in China—where an estimated 1.56 billion devices are active.
“You live your life through the mobile phone. Now, we think we do. But actually, in China, you really do,” Walmart International CEO Judith McKenna told Yahoo Finance, in an interview at the retailer’s annual meeting in Arkansas.
She added that in some stores, the mobile phone is the only option to make payments.
9 minutes
Consequently, the mobile phone has changed customer expectations, especially when it comes to speed.
“The ability to get goods and food to you — and the fastest we've ever done a delivery is nine minutes from order to delivery. That's not average, but that shows the level of speed of service that people are anticipating,” she said.
What’s more, the associates in those stores “play a pivotal role” in that process because they pick the merchandise to fulfill those mobile orders, McKenna added.
As technology shapes retail it will ultimately impact the workforce. One of McKenna’s priorities is ensuring that people are prepared for the “workforce of the future.”
“[The] way we do work in the future will differ from the way that we do work today. And how do we prepare people for that future, and how do we make sure that we train people not only to be able to do what they need to do today, but they're prepared for whatever the future holds as well,” McKenna said.
A livestream of the event will be available on Yahoo Finance on June 7.
Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
