Walmart To Sell Its Logistics Tools to Other Businesses

Retail giant Walmart has announced that it will make its AI-powered “Route Optimization” logistics tool available to businesses of all sizes. The platform aims to help companies run a more efficient supply chain and reduce emissions, ensuring customers can easily find what they're looking for.  The product will be accessible through Walmart Commerce Technologies.

We have invested significant time, resources, and operational know-how into building solutions like Route Optimization, but that can be a barrier for many businesses,” said Anshu Bhardwaj, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Walmart Global Tech and Walmart Commerce Technologies. “By adopting our at-scale, AI-powered tech, businesses can eliminate the need and expense of developing their own technology, and instead focus on what they do best – serve their customers.”

The Benefits of Route Optimization

Route Optimization leverages AI to optimize driving routes, pack trailers efficiently, and minimize miles traveled. The company claims the technology has helped avoid 94 million pounds of CO² emissions by eliminating 30 million unnecessary miles driven and optimized routes to bypass 110,000 inefficient paths. 

Other benefits include:

• Better planning for a truck’s multi-stop journey — AI-driven automated route mapping considers factors such as time, location, and store delivery windows.
• Packing trailers in the most efficient way possible — not only maximizing space but also helping to ensure temperature-controlled items stay fresh.
• Ensuring stores receive deliveries on time, regardless of external variables, by leveraging weather and traffic patterns and quickly pivoting as needed.
• Strategically planning inventory pickup (backhauls) on return trips from deliveries to ensure trailers are never empty, ensuring efficiency and a greener footprint.
• Providing at-a-glance insights such as trailer usage, trip time, and distance traveled without cargo to help operations management teams make faster, more informed decisions.

About Walmart

Walmart is the world's largest retail chain with approximately 255 million customers and more than 10,500 stores in 19 countries. The company, which employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide, won the Franz Edelman Award in 2023 for building and deploying this technology at scale.