CEO Doug McMillon says there is more change now happening at Walmart than at any other time in his 30 years there.
Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesWhile 2020 may be gone, the events of last year will continue to cast a shadow over retail. Walmart says leaders will have to embrace new ideas.
Walmart (ticker: WMT) CEO Doug McMillon spoke on Wednesday at the all-virtual CES to discuss how the company reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic and the changes it expects. He said that Walmart might not be the first name that comes to mind in technology, the company has always been a leader in integrating tech into its supply chain. The pandemic only accelerated its involvement with tech ranging from data analytics to robotics.
He says that despite the many challenges associated with the virus, the environment made progress possible, and that the way Walmart serves customers today is different than it was before. McMillon, a three-decade veteran of the company, says that there is “more change happening now than at any point in my thirty years” with Walmart.
Rather than a single technology, it will be the combination of multiple tools, from artificial intelligence to animation, that affects the company’s business as it looks to more accurately forecast demand and save customers money with personalization, according to the CEO.
He argued that the subscription service Walmart+ will continue to be an important part of the strategy, as the company adopts new scan-and-go technology and builds up its delivery capacity. He also highlighted Walmart’s further push into health care, especially digital offerings that have become more widely accepted during the pandemic.
Ultimately, in the company’s core retail business, McMillon believes, Covid-19 let the genie out of the bottle in terms of catering to consumers’ new preferences. Shoppers will continue to use pickup and delivery to a greater degree and Walmart is “ready to make the most of that,” he said.
Write to Teresa Rivas at teresa.rivas@barrons.com
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January 14, 2021 at 07:00PM
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Walmart’s CEO on How the Pandemic Changed Retail Forever - Barron's
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