At this Walmart near Charlotte, what’s it really like filling online holiday orders?
With holiday shopping in full swing, Charlotte-area retailers like Walmart are busy working to fill thousands of orders that pour in each day.
Companywide, Walmart’s same-day delivery sales jumped nearly 70% in the third quarter of this year, with about 35% of store orders delivered in under three hours, according to Walmart. The Indian Trail store at 2101 Younts Road is one of the highest traffic stores for both in-store and online shopping, store manager Aleks Cortan said.
The Charlotte Observer recently got an inside look at how it works.
The fulfillment area has doubled in size since the store was remodeled two years ago, said team lead Kenneth Wallace.
Walking through the black swinging saloon-style doors into the staging area, about a dozen Walmart employees were busy checking orders on handheld devices in the computer system, and moving stacks of blue plastic carts on metal rolling carts.
Orders ready to go are organized by delivery time. All orders are picked within two hours to be ready, said Taylor Smith, store digital coach who oversees the process.
There also is a large walk-in cooler and a freezer. A door inside lets employees move between the two coolers without having to go back outside.
It was a Thursday morning and a bit light on orders compared to what the store sees on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
It takes a lot of planning, cleaning and scheduling to make it all run smoothly, Smith said.
Orders are generated through Walmart’s system on employee handheld devices. Then, employees print the labels for each order onto the blue totes.
Here are three more things to know about the massive operation that gets orders from the aisle to a customers car or home:
Charlotte is a ‘hot spot’ for Walmart digital orders
Charlotte is a delivery hot spot with high demand for online pickup and delivery orders, Walmart spokeswoman Allison Jones said during the behind-the-scenes look Thursday.
The Indian Trail store fills about 5,000 orders each week. That’s at least 500 to 900 orders every day with thousands of items, said Cortan, who has worked at Walmart for 27 years, the last four as store manager.
To keep pace, the Indian Trail location is the only store equipped with three delivery vans, one of which is fully electric. Next year, the store expects to launch drone delivery.
The fulfillment team is the engine
About 50 Indian Trail employees are focused exclusively on fulfillment. That’s about 15% of the store’s 330 workers.
Here’s who works to complete your order:
- The personal shoppers or picker who prepares orders by getting the products from the aisles.
- The stagers who set up and organize the orders at the in-house “mini warehouse” fulfillment area.
- The delivery, who take the orders out and load customer cars or delivery vans.
All orders are picked within two hours to be ready for customer pickup or delivery.
Pickers are the athletes of retail
Walmart’s personal shoppers get a workout on the clock.
Digital team lead Meral Kemaloglu said “on a light day,” she clocks 15,000 to 20,000 steps per shift. “I lost 18 pounds when I was (solely) a personal shopper,” she said.
Speed is king. Walmart has a measuring system that takes into account speed, quality and quantity, Smith said.
Kemaloglu, even weighted down by showing the Observer how it’s all done, finished eight orders of 62 total items in 17 minutes.
To be able to have a great fulfillment center in the store, you have to have a good store,” Cortan said. Everything is connected.”
