Walmart’s New High-Tech Supermarket

Walmart has opened its first small-sized, high-tech supermarket in Shenzhen, China, and it could be an Aldi and Amazon Go challenger.

The store will stock more than 8,000 items, ranging from stir-fried clams to fresh fruit, 90% of which will also be available online. Items purchased can be delivered to customers within a 2-kilometer radius from JD.com in as quickly as 29 minutes, said Walmart in a statement. 

Walmart also revealed that customers at the new supermarket will be able to use a mini program on WeChat as they shop to bypass traditional checkout counters by paying via their mobile devices.

As the war between Amazon and Walmart heats up and both companies make heavy investments in technology and experiment with new store formats, it is critical for traditional grocers to up their game as well. Today, Amazon leads Walmart in online food sales by twice as much; however, it is important to note that those who shop Walmart online are doing a full grocery shop, including fresh, frozen and refrigerated, while Amazon shoppers are not.