Bentonville, Arkansas — the home of Walmart’s headquarters — is the site of the second in-store fulfillment center featuring Alphabot and its related operations.
The retail giant announced in late May that it now has a Market Fulfillment Center at its Bentonville store at 406 S. Walton Blvd.
Alphabot is a proprietary storage and retrieval system, which Walmart first deployed as a proof-of-concept at a Salem, New Hampshire, store in late 2019. In October, Walmart acquired Boston-based Alert Innovation Inc., which developed and produced the Alphabot system.
The aim of the system is to streamline online grocery pickup and delivery by increasing the volume and speed of orders available to fill per day at the stores featuring the system.
“Walmart believes fulfillment through digitization and connecting its store and supply chain assets end-to-end will transform fulfillment,” a Walmart press release stated.
In the release, Walmart said it plans to add more Market Fulfillment Centers at select stores in the coming years.
The retailer has noted that such technology could leverage the storage and fulfillment potential of Walmart’s extensive store footprint — 4,700 stores located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population.
Walmart is based in the tri-state region and is one of the Memphis area’s largest employers with about 6,000 metro-area workers, according to MBJ research.
