Walmart and IBM Team to Bolster Last-Mile Delivery

Walmart has formed a partnership with IBM aimed at improving last-mile delivery for retailers.

The collaboration will integrate Walmart’s GoLocal delivery service into IBM’s Sterling order management platform, the companies said in a Monday (Jan. 13) news release. IBM retail customers who sign up with Walmart GoLocal can now integrate Walmart GoLocal’s suite of last-mile delivery solutions into their operations, the release added.

“Last-mile is often considered the most difficult and costly step in the supply chain, and can be further complicated by rising consumer expectations around shortened delivery timeframes,” the companies said. “Walmart GoLocal offers a full range of last-mile solutions to any retailer looking to improve their last-mile delivery and better serve their customers.”

According to the release, the collaboration is designed to simplify the operational workflow for IBM clients hoping to work with Walmart GoLocal for their deliveries.

Once an order is placed and ready to ship, IBM’s order management system lets users pick a delivery service provider from a list that now includes Walmart GoLocal offerings such as same-day, next-day, multi-day, scheduled, big and bulky and batched deliveries.

“Additionally, the integration is designed to be user-friendly and highly customizable, mitigating the need for extensive development or complex modifications,” the release added.

In other Walmart news, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote earlier this month about the retail giant’s banking efforts via its One offering.

“Walmart’s hope with One is that it will do what Walmart has been unable to do effectively until now,” she wrote. “That is to turn its customer base into a mobile ecosystem. It’s a big market. There are 100 million people who walk through its doors every week, roughly 38% of the adult consumer population.”

Webster added that the potential pool of customers is around 20% more than the entire customer base of J.P. Morgan and nearly double its active mobile banking population (53 million). It’s also 15 times greater than what Chime has listed as its active user profile.

Also this month, PYMNTS explored Walmart’s healthcare efforts in a conversation with Arias Websterberry, CEO of WebsterBerry Marketing, who said this focus is “absolutely a game-changer” for community health access.

“By hosting events like Walmart Wellness Day, they’re leveraging their unparalleled retail footprint that allows them to deliver essential health services to the masses,” said Westerberry. “This approach not only is going to drive an enormous amount of foot traffic, but it also positions Walmart as a trusted partner in the preventative and primary care market. It’s a strategic move, and this evolution is going to reflect the growing kind of convergence of retail and healthcare.”