Walmart says its Alphabot grocery-picking system is fully operational at a supercenter in Salem, New Hampshire, bringing stored goods to workers while leaving produce and other fresh items to be picked by hand. In its January 8, 2020 update, the retailer describes autonomous carts retrieving ambient, refrigerated and frozen products for online orders. Workers still check and bag the goods and deliver the completed order. [S1]
Alphabot has been running in Salem since mid-2019, Walmart says; January’s announcement is an update, not its launch. The company’s August 2018 plan had aimed for operation by that year’s end. It described a 20,000-square-foot extension connected to the store, with carts feeding four picking stations. The January account again gives the system’s space as 20,000 square feet, but does not explain why the planned and reported start dates differ. [S1][S2]
The fresh-food exception matters to the workflow. Walmart’s original plan called for employees to consolidate items brought from storage, while personal shoppers continued to select fresh goods. In the January description, a worker checks and bags products at a workstation after the carts retrieve them. The practical implication is that a complete order still depends on both picking paths. Timing only the automated retrieval would not show how long a customer waits for the whole basket to be ready. [S1][S2]
Alert Innovation developed Alphabot for Walmart. The retailer says the carts move horizontally and vertically without lifts or conveyors. Walmart expects that flexibility to ease space constraints when adapting the system to other stores; it is not reporting those installations as completed. [S1]
Walmart’s aim is to give workers less walking to do and more time for customers and fresh-food selection. The company expects faster fulfillment to let shoppers order closer to pickup time and wait less when they arrive. It also predicts better accuracy. Neither post supplies before-and-after order times or accuracy rates to measure those gains. [S1][S2]
Salem remains the test site. Walmart says it will study and refine the process there, then assess the next steps for a wider rollout after collecting feedback from employees and customers. The January update sets no national rollout date. [S1]
Source documents
- How Walmart’s Alphabot is Helping to Revolutionize Online Grocery Pickup and Deliveryhttps://corporate.walmart.com/news/2020/01/08/how-walmarts-alphabot-is-helping-to-revolutionize-online-grocery-pickup-and-delivery
- Associates and Alphabot Team Up to Make Walmart’s Popular Grocery Pickup Service Even Betterhttps://corporate.walmart.com/news/2018/08/03/associates-and-alphabot-team-up-to-make-walmarts-popular-grocery-pickup-service-even-better