Walmart Selling Its Success Strategies To Other Major Retailers
Walmart is teaming up with Salesforce and is planning to sell its innovative strategies to interested businesses.
Anyone looking to come out on top during these tough economic times should consider diversifying. And that advice holds true for everyone from the solopreneur to global corporations. So the news that Walmart is rapidly expanding its portfolio should not be a surprise.
The retail giant is well-known for its innovations in customer service. However, many may not know that its innovations usually happen thanks to proprietary technology and software. For many years, Walmart has kept that information close to the vest.
However, the company is now taking steps to start sharing its advancements with other retailers. Walmart’s Chief Technology Officer, Suresh Kumar, said “By bringing in other retailers, we can understand what the customer needs are throughout the shopping journey and then be able to improve our products to be able to serve the customer no matter how, where or when they shop. That ultimately is going to benefit us also because we will continue to keep improving our products.”
But how exactly are they sharing their advancements with others? The answer varies depending on the technological tool in question. For example, Walmart’s GoLocal delivery service is open to any interested retailer.
GoLocal officially launched in 2021. The service is like an in-house version of DoorDash, GrubHub, or Uber Eats. Customers can order groceries or household items online and select the delivery option.
However, instead of having a third-party delivery service handle the drop-off, GoLocal drivers do. The service has rapidly expanded and completed over 3 million deliveries. Now, Walmart has signed other retailers, like Home Depot, as customers.
Another example is Walmart’s third-party marketplace, which rivals Amazon. Sellers, including other retailers, hoping to increase sales can offer their products on Walmart’s site. And according to CNBC, “In November, Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said the company added more than 8,000 sellers to its third-party marketplace in the fiscal third quarter.”
But the biggest move by Walmart officially hit news headlines this week. The retail giant announced a partnership with Salesforce to help promote its tech. As of this spring, GoLocal and a program called Store Assist will get added to Salesforce’s business app center.
Once they go live, other retailers will have the opportunity to purchase proven technology. It’s a win-win. “Salesforce Chief Product Officer David Schmaier said retailers are hungry for solutions as they try to keep up with customers who have high expectations and who shift between shopping in-store, ordering purchases to their homes and retrieving online purchases in the store or parking lot.”
And Walmart has just the tools those companies need to solve their problems. It is a brilliant move by the company. They can diversify as customers’ budgets tighten, and other retailers can benefit from tested systems.
However, Walmart is still keeping some of its tools hidden. Company leadership doesn’t want to give away all the keys to the kingdom. Additionally, it won’t release information about its overall commercialization goals.
But Walmart has clearly done something right since they dominate in the retail space. So its willingness to share even some of its success with others is good news. Time will tell if this new leap will prove a success.
