Plainfield, Ind. – Walmart plans to open a dedicated e-commerce distribution center in Indiana later this year.
The 1.2 million-square-foot facility, to be located here, will be capable of delivering online orders within one or two days to some 160 million Americans.
It is the third online-only fulfillment center announced in the past eight months, along with facilities in Pennsylvania and Texas.
Speaking at a media briefing earlier this month, Neil Ashe, Walmart’s president/CEO of global e-commerce, noted that the retailer’s online assortment now numbers 7 million items and that its online sales are expected to grow 30 percent this year to $13 billion.
Three more dedicated distribution centers are planned, he said, which will increase Walmart.com’s direct delivery coverage to 90 percent of the U.S.
Added Brent Beabout, supply chain and logistics senior VP, “By combining large-scale online fulfillment centers with Walmart’s distribution centers, world-class transportation network and 4,200 stores, we have the ability to get incredibly close to our customers to deliver orders faster and at a lower cost.”
Indeed, the company’s social and mobile commerce unit, @WalmartLabs, has been employing algorithms and logic to determine optimum fulfillment pathways, which has contributed to a 15 percent increase in delivery time and a 22 percent decrease in costs over the past two years, spokesman Ravi Jariwala told TWICE in an email.
Walmart will began staffing up its Indiana facility this fall.
