Wal-Mart Inc (NYSE:WMT) announced recently that it’s considering adding more Pickup Towers to all its stores across the US. The company will add about 500 more Pickup Towers to make it a total of 700 before the end of the year. The Pickup Towers are intended to enable customers to easily order for their household items online and retrieving them at the nearest self-service machines. More than 500,000 customers have already placed their orders through the new service.
The debut of the Pickup Towers at additional stores is part of the company’s strategy to encourage more clients to use the firm’s online platform to order for their household items from toothpaste to television sets among others as a way for the company to compete diligently with its rivals including the Amazon, a giant e-commerce platform.
Amazon has launched similar programs including its recent Instant Pickup program whereby people are allowed to retrieve their products from the Amazon’s vending machines spread across the country. Furthermore, the company also introduced a Hub Delivery Lockers that are installed in the vicinity areas for clients to easily pick their groceries.
Wal-Mart and Google have been competing with the Amazon in various offerings including online retailing business, smart home, and voice assistants and much more. Wal-Mart is focused on becoming the leading the most convenient and pocket-friendly online retailer with its latest vending machine and other services underway.
The latest Pickup Towers will be available in more than 200 stores around the US and about 40% of the Americans will access the Pickup Tower. However, the company must dig deeper into its pocket to deploy more trucks to manage the increasing demand for the service. Wal-Mart plans to set up over 6,700 trucks in order to serve individual homes and entities than sending the orders directly to its stores. With the increased number of Pickup Towers, clients can pick their packages right at their doorstep instead of waiting for the email notifications to go to the nearest tower.
