Since Jeff Bezos began training us to buy anything online at “The Everything Store” and to expect it delivered for free within 2 days, retailers around the world have scrambled to find new and better ways to capture our attention and our wallets. Instantaneous everything appears to be the direction of things and Walmart seems to have an idea to be faster and more convenient for consumers.
Sometime in the not too distant future it appears that Walmart intends to have online shopping fulfilled at new 15,000 square foot Internet grocery pick up centers. As best as I can tell, from conversations with experts and internet research, Walmart’s pick up centers will either have large parking lots with “lockers” for product pick up or as many as 30 lanes of drive up delivery for consumers to gather the goods they purchased online. Imagine a large parking lot with a gas station in the center, code operated lockers dotting the outside perimeter of the lot, and a convenience store sized only for pick up fresh produce and various items you may have forgotten to order online, and… Walla, you’ve got a new shopping experience! What will they think of next?!
If you are looking for industrial real estate in Utah we’d love to talk to you.
(below are a few links with additional info on some of the topics above)
Links
Walmart 2015 real estate strategy - http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2014/06/16/why-walmart-suddenly-thinks-smaller-is-better/
Amazon’s Distribution Strategy/Sortation Centers - http://www.scdigest.com/experts/Wulfraat_14-07-23.php?cid=8309
Amazon Surprises with Profit - http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2015/07/23/amazon-second-quarter-earnings-2015/