Walmart testing ‘dark stores’ to fill online orders, according to report
Walmart Inc. is reportedly testing a strategy currently in use by Amazon to help deliver products ordered online more quickly.
The retail giant is piloting a dark store, in the Dallas area, Bloomberg reported, with plans to open an additional location in its corporate headquarters city of Bentonville, Ark. Dark stores are stocked similar to regular stores and serve as micro-distribution centers for pickers to immediately fulfill online orders. They are closed to the public.
Asked about the dark stores, a Walmart spokesperson told Chain Store Age via email that the retailer regularly tests "new tools, features, and capabilities to better connect with and serve our customers—wherever and however they choose to shop."
"Regardless of the channel, our goal remains the same: to deliver a fast, seamless, and engaging customer experience," the spokesperson continued.
The dark stores reportedly carry Walmart’s most popular online items to help facilitate fast delivery. The retailer, which previously experimented with dark stores but stopped doing so following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, has been engaging in a variety of initiatives to speed up delivery.
These include expanding the use of drone delivery to new markets, as well as leveraging advanced geospatial technology to divide geographic areas into precise hexagonal grids for the purpose of optimizing delivery zones. And in January 2025, the retailer made same-day pharmacy delivery available in 49 states for both new prescriptions and medication refills.
[READ MORE: Walmart expands same-day pharmacy delivery nationwide]
The company has also been growing its next-generation fulfillment center model featuring an automated, high-density storage and retrieval system. Other initiatives include utilizing a personalized replenishment algorithm to learn and anticipate regularly purchased items for its InHome delivery service.
Walmart has offered an express delivery service that delivers items to customers’ doors in less than two hours since 2020. Meanwhile, chief Walmart rival Amazon has been using dark stores to aid its fast delivery efforts for at least five years.
In an emailed response to an inquiry from Chain Store Age, a Walmart spokesperson said the company focuses on providing omnichannel customer satisfaction.
"We regularly test new tools, features, and capabilities to better connect with and serve our customers—wherever and however they choose to shop," the spokesperson said in the email. "Regardless of the channel, our goal remains the same: to deliver a fast, seamless, and engaging customer experience."
Read more Bloomberg coverage here.
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.
