Walmart to acquire grocery robotics company Alert Innovation

Walmart on Thursday said it plans to acquire Boston-based grocery robotics company Alert Innovation to boost its order-fulfillment speed.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Walmart has worked with Alert Innovation since 2016, creating customized technology for Walmart’s market fulfillment centers (MFCs) and began pilot testing Alert’s Alphabot System in Walmart’s first MFC in Salem, New Hampshire, in 2019.

Walmart called the acquisition a “step forward in the evolution of our supply chain and MFCs.”

The retailer said the acquisition will allow it to leverage its 4,700 stores, located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population, for storage and fulfillment. Walmart’s MFCs are modular warehouses built within, or added to, one of its stores. MFCs can store fresh and frozen items, as well as other consumables, electronics and other frequently purchased goods. Walmart has called the facility a “small, automated warehouse.”

Alert’s fully autonomous bots store, retrieve and dispense orders by moving horizontally, laterally and vertically across three temperature zones, without any lifts or conveyors, Walmart said in a statement.

“This provides fewer space constraints inside the MFC and eliminates the need to pause the entire system for bot maintenance,” Walmart said.

The Alert acquisition is part of Walmart’s goal to create a network of “next generation” fulfillment centers, the first of which opened last week in Joliet, Illinois.

That 1 million-square-foot facility stores millions of items from Walmart.com to be picked, packed and shipped to customers. Three more fulfillment centers are slated to open over the next three years. The facilities combine human workers, robotics and machine learning to make the fulfillment process more efficient.

“We are committed to exceeding customer expectations and serving them in new ways, whether it’s in a store, curbside, or at their home,” Walmart SVP of Innovation and Automation David Guggina said in a statement. “Bringing the best of Alert’s technology and capabilities in-house will enable us to reach more customers quicker by deploying MFCs with greater speed, providing both an unmatched shopping experience and a competitive advantage in omnichannel fulfillment.”

Walmart hinted that this likely will not be the last of its high-tech acquisitions as it looks to further scale its digital-order fulfillment strategy.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to modernize our supply chain operations through investments in robotics and automation in our stores and distribution and fulfillment centers, creating exciting new experiences for customers that are unique to Walmart,” the retailer said in a statement.