Walmart bought omnichannel technology specialist Vault Systems

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Dive Brief:

  • Walmart said it is acquiring Vault Systems, a software company that specializes in supplier management and product tracking..
  • With the acquisition, Walmart will take on Vault Systems’ talent, technology and customer engagements, the retailer said in a press release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed..
  • Walmart said the dealIt validates Walmart’s investment in technology and innovation that allows us to better anticipate customer needs.

Dive Insight:

Over the years, Walmart has evolved its digital strategy around new channel marketing, drawing from its focus on core digital brands and experience under former e-commerce chief Mark Lorre.

Omnichannel Walmart has an advantage over e-commerce behemoth Amazon, whose store base covers much of the country’s population. The pandemic has only accelerated Walmart’s transition into an omnichannel specialist, with curbside and in-store sales soaring amid months of long social distancing.

So instead of big acquisitions — like the massive Jet.com deal, the website that Walmart later shut down, and brands like Modcloth (which Walmart sold shortly after it bought it) — Walmart quietly invested in its capabilities around omnichannel.

Walmart Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said at a conference in March that “the businesses we continue to grow, … pickup, delivery, work at home, these are all different ways that customers do it.” He can shop with us.”

Bigg went on to explain that Walmart wants to be the first retailer customers think of when it’s time to shop. “[B]“Because they know I want to take my car, I want to go to the store, I want to shop at home, I can do all that in one organization, and we think we can give it to the customer today,” Biggs said. Looking for an alpha transcript.

The Vault Systems deal can be seen in that light. Vault bills itself as a solution for navigating the “complex omnichannel universe” with its software services associated with omnichannel engagement, vendor management and product tracking.

In announcing the deal, Walmart said it will offer Vault. Suppliers have improved demand visibility into merchandise resources, and the technology company’s application “provides current store-level data, functional analytics and shelf information to suppliers to plan, forecast and optimize product mix.”

According to Walmart, this is all aimed at creating a seamless shopping experience across channels and reducing out-of-stock confusion.

Vault represents yet another investment in Walmart’s core operational capabilities around omnichannel. WOther recent investments by Walmart include a new Augmented reality marketing tools For customers.

It has Walmart on the back of its omni-channel operations. In collaboration with Symbotic To bring the latest automated supply chain technology to all regional distribution centers. (So ​​does Walmart He took a stake in Symbotic.)

The retailer is plotting a new one. “Next generation” fulfillment centers Using automated technology to store and retrieve products.

At the store level, Walmart has. Test stores created To rapidly test new omnichannel technologies and processes to accelerate sales floor and in-store collection rates.

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