Walmart aims to strengthen retail everywhere by offering its proven tech to other businesses; latest solution enhances the efficiency of the middle mile, allowing businesses to more consistently keep their customers’ desired products in stock
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — For years, Walmart has used AI to create a more efficient supply chain, reducing emissions while helping to ensure more of the items its customers want are available where, when and how they want them. The company is making that same award-winning, AI-powered logistics technology — Route Optimization — available to all businesses as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution through Walmart Commerce Technologies.
“We have invested significant time, resources and operational knowhow into building solutions like Route Optimization, but that can be a barrier for many businesses,” said Anshu Bhardwaj, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Walmart Global Tech and Walmart Commerce Technologies. “By adopting our at-scale, AI-powered tech, businesses can eliminate the need and expense of developing their own technology, and instead focus on what they do best – serve their customers.”
Route Optimization provides businesses of all sizes the use of AI-driven software to optimize driving routes, pack trailers efficiently and minimize miles traveled. Using this same custom technology, Walmart avoided 94 million pounds of CO² by eliminating 30 million unnecessary miles driven and optimized routes to bypass 110,000 inefficient paths. Walmart won the prestigious Franz Edelman Award in 2023 for building and deploying this technology at scale.
Now, Walmart is offering Route Optimization to other businesses to boost their own performance and make sure their customers can find what they are looking for by:
- Better planning for a truck’s multi-stop journey — AI-driven automated route mapping considers factors such as time, location, and store delivery windows.
- Packing trailers in the most efficient way possible — not only maximizing space but also helping to ensure temperature-controlled items stay fresh.
- Ensuring stores receive deliveries on time, regardless of external variables, by leveraging weather and traffic patterns and quickly pivoting as needed.
- Strategically planning inventory pickup (backhauls) on return trips from deliveries to ensure trailers are never empty, ensuring efficiency and a greener footprint.
- Providing at-a-glance insights such as trailer usage, trip time and distance traveled without cargo to help operations management teams make faster, more informed decisions.
Walmart has pioneered and scaled innovative omnichannel technologies for more than a decade. Route Optimization is Walmart’s second turnkey, white-label solution, joining Store Assist, a SaaS technology that provides local fulfillment including shipping, pickup and delivery.
About Walmart
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer helping people save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, approximately 255 million customers and members visit more than 10,500 stores and numerous eCommerce websites in 19 countries. With fiscal year 2024 revenue of $648 billion, Walmart employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/walmart, on X (formerly known as Twitter) at twitter.com/walmart, and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/walmart.
