Walmart, Salesforce team up to offer local fulfillment to other retailers

Walmart has entered into a deal to sell more of its technology and services to other merchants.

The retail giant is teaming up with Salesforce to give retailers that use the Salesforce Commerce Cloud access to Walmart's local pickup and delivery services.  Through the collaboration, Walmart Commerce Technologies' Store Assist local fulfillment app and its GoLocal local delivery service will be available to other retailers through Salesforce and listed in the company's AppExchange.

These solutions are the same technology Walmart uses internally and enable real-time order visibility and local pickup and delivery capability. The Store Assist app is designed to optimize in-store fulfillment by increasing picking accuracy, speed and efficiency and managing handoff between employees and customers or third-party delivery drivers.

Utilizing the app, retailers can manage omnichannel fulfillment offerings such as buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS). Meanwhile, GoLocal provides hosted white-label, delivery-as-a-service technology to manage last-mile deliveries.

[Read more: Walmart moves into Instacart turf with delivery service]

“Through this partnership, retailers can leverage the same innovative and scalable technologies that power Walmart’s pickup and delivery experiences,” said Anshu Bhardwaj, senior VP, technology strategy and commercialization, Walmart Global Technology. “The same technology that powers Store Assist has enabled Walmart to fulfill over 830 million* orders across over 4,700 Walmart stores. Together with Salesforce, retailers can scale their business and deliver the personalized, convenient experiences shoppers expect.”

In addition, retailers can use Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Order Management solutions to manage a customer’s’ omnichannel shopping experience across one platform, while leveraging AI and real-time data to support connected, personalized experiences.

“Retailers are looking for ways to improve cost efficiency while meeting their customers’ needs, no matter where or how they choose to shop. Fulfillment from stores is an effective way to achieve these goals and serve customers quickly and reliably through local delivery,” said Harsit Patel, VP and GM of Walmart GoLocal. “We look forward to connecting more retailers with the customizable, local delivery solutions they need.”

“Shoppers continue to expect brands to deliver highly connected and frictionless experiences across physical and digital touchpoints. In fact, one in five orders placed the weekend before Christmas were picked up in store,” said Rob Garf, VP and GM of retail, Salesforce. “With the combined power of Walmart and Salesforce, retailers can drive success with best-in-class technology to advance their omnichannel capabilities, drive efficiency, and ensure that every purchase quickly gets into the hands of the shopper – no matter where they are.”

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites under 46 banners in 24 countries.