After the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way that we shopped, companies are looking for ways to bring customers back to stores, and Walmart is one of the companies that is trying a lot of new things to entice customers to shop in person once again. One of the things thy are trying is to convert their old stores into the new “stores of the future” but they are also opening new and improved shopping centers, like the one in Cypress, Texas which apply all the new “store of the future” concept into one building.
While describing a “store of the future” can sound fairly ambiguous, after all the future changes constantly as the present evolves, the basis is to offer a customer experience different from anything customers have seen before as well as different from what other retailers are doing.
Walmart’s new plan for the future and its stores
Since the shopping experience has changed so much over the past few years, Americans have begun to favor other ways of shopping that were previously looked down on, like the ones exemplified by German companies Lidl and Aldi, which have become more and more popular despite the initial culture clash. This has not been helped with the arrival of Chinese giant T&T (although the new tariffs to China may make this new competitor disappear) and Walmart has been forced to renew or die.
The new stores have new innovative design meant to make shopping simpler, easier, and faster, with updates interior designs, extensive services, and the latest technology. Some of the new features that will be offered include fully equipped service stations, the latest in fashion, baby clothes, household products, and pet products. New service policies will be implemented, such as the creation of a new Pharmacy Delivery service which aims to help the community at large.
The Texas stores in particular have already been announced to offer a regional and national bakery section, tortilla machines, and a sushi and Dunkin’ Donut station, all of which will increase value and entice customers to go in store to benefit from the extra freshly produced products. Additionally, customers will have the opportunity to use the Walmart app throughout the store and schedule various services such as tire installations.
Although they have closed some of their worst performing stores, Walmart is not giving up and they are also opening a lot of new centers to expand in communities that they underserved. As a part of this plan, they are planning to open a few new supercenters apart from the new Cypress one. The new ones that have been announced by the company will be located specifically in Frisco and Melissa, also in Texas, but there also seems to be plans to open new centers in other states such as in Eagle Mountain in Utah and Eastvale in California.
Since these new centers still need to be built and approved by local regulatory committees, there is no firm date or location to share right now, but the project is in the works and Walmart seems committed to making these centers happen and for the new “store of the future” to be available to consumers.
In addition to these new supercenters, new neighborhood markets, which have been well received by consumers and requested in other communities will be opening soon in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Milton and Peace in Florida. Similarly, the stores in Mountain View, California, and East Windson, New Jersey, will become supercenters.
Walmart leadership is confident that this new strategy will work and that customers will like to return to the physical store, especially considering the myriad of services that will be available to them that are not possible to obtain online.