Walmart is testing out home delivery via dogs
Forget drones and robots. They’re, like, so 2019. The hot trend in online delivery right now is canines, with Walmart leading the way.
The US retailer’s programme is the brainchild of Marc Lore, President and CEO at Walmart eCommerce.
According to supply chain consultant Brittain Ladd, Lore came up with the idea for having dogs make deliveries when people rejected another programme he championed – having drivers place groceries directly into customers’ refrigerators.
During multiple brainstorming sessions at Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, AR, an employee jokingly commented that “maybe we should use dogs to make the deliveries” and the idea was born.
Barking up the wrong tree?
“I appreciate the pressure Lore and President and CEO Doug McMillon are under when competing against a company like Amazon. However, are dogs delivering packages the answer? I’m not convinced,” says Ladd.
He believes that micro-fulfilment centres, drones and improving last mile delivery density are better options. “I asked Walmart to provide financial information regarding the costs of feeding and caring for the delivery dogs but Walmart declined. Will the programme succeed? Lore is convinced that it will. By the end of 2020, we will know if he was right,” Ladd concludes.
