Wal-Mart says it is testing something it calls Associate Delivery which is basically a new scheme that encourages employees to make delivery at the end of their shift for a fee. In a blog post by Marc Lore who is the President and CEO of Walmart’s eCommerce operation in the US said
“Associates are fully in control of their experience. If they don’t want to participate, they don’t have to. If they choose to opt in, we’ve built technology that allows them to set preferences. Associates choose how many packages they can deliver, the size and weight limits of those packages and which days they’re able to make deliveries after work – it’s completely up to them, and they can update those preferences at any time. We also allocate packages based on minimizing the collective distance they need to travel off of their commute to make a delivery.”
This makes sense considering that Walmart reportedly employs 1 percent of the US workforce and has about 1.5 million employees and on top of that, it is estimated that Walmart has about 4,700 stores in the US while 90 percent of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of a Wal-Mart. This means majority of the Walmart staff can tap into the company’s plan to cut shipping costs and making money in the process.
Online spending in the US is set to grow 16 percent this year with a projected $462b in spending. Walmart is a big player and wants to save money at the expense of shippers but to the potential benefit of employees.
The test has started in three locations in Arkansas and New Jersey.
