Wal-Mart expands e-commerce fulfillment capability

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has made it clear with recent promotions that it has Amazon.com in its sights, and the retailer is now boning up on back-end fulfillment capability for its e-commerce business. Wal-Mart is opening two new e-commerce distribution facilities Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.



Wal-Mart has provided a preview of a 1.2 million-sq.-ft. facility in the Majestic Bethlehem Center in Bethlehem, featuring state-of-the-art automation and warehousing systems. The center created about 400 new jobs in the area. Roughly 200 additional jobs were created at the second Wal-Mart fulfillment center in the Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII.



Walmart's combined centers are expected to generate nearly 1,000 new jobs in the next few years.



This new facilities are part of a network including Wal-Mart distribution centers, existing e-commerce facilities, 4,500 Walmart stores and a transportation fleet, that ships packages faster and more efficiently while offering customers more choices for how they want to receive their online orders.



"This Bethlehem facility is part of a dense, multi-faceted network that combines new buildings, existing fulfillment assets, and our portfolio of stores to create thousands of points of distribution," said Neil Ashe, CEO, Walmart global e-commerce. "All of these elements working together enhance our ability to get more products to customers faster, at a lower cost, and provide more choices for shoppers."