Watch for the liberal spin on this one.
- Previous mantra: “Walmart exploits their workers and pays slave wages! Walmart is evil!”
- New mantra: “Walmart is firing all their cashiers and replacing them with robots! Walmart is evil!”
The Walmart megastore will be getting in on the automation race — they are planning a new service that may make their stores cashier-free. They will also be implimenting new strategies to compete in the E-commerce wave sparked by Amazon.
According to Recode, “a new Walmart subsidiary, called Code Eight, has recently started testing a personal shopping service for ‘busy NYC moms,’ according to multiple sources, with the goal of letting them get product recommendations and make purchases simply through text messaging.”
Code Eight’s targeted demographic will be a “high net worth urban consumer,” a departure from their standard middle-America consumer.
“Household items are delivered for free within 24 hours; other purchases are delivered within two business days,” reports Recode. “Returns are picked up for free at a customer’s apartment building or house.”
Similar to Amazon Go stores, Walmart’s startup incubator, Store No. 8, will be testing a new line of cashier free stores. The secret project, known as “Project Kepler,” will be headed by Mike Hanrahan, the co-founder and former chief technology officer for Jet.com.
Via DW