Countless retailers have found themselves in a precarious position in light of the coronavirus pandemic. On the one hand, demand is through the roof for essential products. On the other hand, some stores have been forced to close and for those that are still open, the nature of shopping has changed dramatically due to social distancing guidelines.
Walmart, the biggest retailer in the world, has made sweeping changes to its operations to ensure worker and customer safety. In addition to store modifications that include one-way aisles in all U.S. stores, plexiglass barriers between cashiers and customers, temperature checks of associates, and masks and face-covering requirements, the company has adapted operations to cater to the new way customers want to get their essentials.
John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., told Cheddar, “We’ve seen a shift in the way people shop. People are asking for contact-free ways to pay and to be able to get their pick-up order and home delivery contact-free. We’ve made a number of changes with technology quickly that enable things like that to happen.” This includes expansion of Walmart Pay, and smaller gestures like removing the need for customers to physically sign for their pickup orders.
When asked about any required changes to the company’s business model as social distancing requirements mean fewer customers in stores, Furner said Walmart’s ability to leverage these contact-free technologies will help offset costs that arise from negative changes.
As the biggest employer in the world, Furner said the company “changed our leave policy early in this process because we wanted to make sure that people who were either ill or at risk of being [ill], or just didn’t feel comfortable coming into work, had the ability to stay home.”
Furner highlighted that the company has been able to hire over 150,000 people in just the last few weeks, with a plan to bring an additional 50,000 onboard to help offset many of those who have not been able to come in.
With U.S. unemployment at historic levels, Walmart has changed its procedures to ensure a “better hiring process to keep people working.” He said that with many of recently-hired employees, the company has been able to make job offers the same day candidates interview.
Furner didn’t shy away from acknowledging that the new realities of retail will probably remain for some time. He highlighted that Walmart has been able to quickly support today’s necessary shopping behaviors, but these actions “probably would have happened in a few years” and said now they “have been fast-forwarded and customers are shopping in ways that are different than just a couple months ago.”
