Walmart has begun a pilot program in several Dallas‑area stores that uses back‑room shelves as a staging area for same‑day delivery of third‑party marketplace items, creating a new logistics channel that brings inventory closer to customers and challenges Amazon’s same‑day fulfillment service.
The pilot relies on artificial intelligence to decide which marketplace products to stock in each store, a process that takes local demand patterns into account. Walmart’s marketplace hosts roughly 500 million items from third‑party sellers, and marketplace revenue is growing about 20 % annually, underscoring the strategic importance of this initiative.
Recent supply‑chain upgrades—including automated warehouse operations—have freed up space for the pilot, and Walmart has a long history of using the Dallas market as a testing ground for new ideas. The program is part of a broader effort to accelerate same‑day delivery, which also includes an expansion of the company’s drone‑delivery program in the Dallas‑Fort Worth area.
Manish Joneja, senior vice president of Walmart U.S. Marketplace and Walmart Fulfillment Services, said, "Starting in a few markets, we'll soon be offering a select assortment of marketplace items through the pickup and delivery experience customers already know and love. It's an intentional test that will help us learn and scale over time."
By bringing third‑party inventory into physical stores, Walmart can reduce last‑mile delivery distances, improve delivery speed, and expand its marketplace offering. The pilot demonstrates the company’s commitment to integrating its physical and digital channels and positions Walmart to compete more aggressively with Amazon in the fast‑growing same‑day delivery market.
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