Walmart Opens First Market Fulfillment Center in Arkansas as the Retailer Doubles Down on Store Fulfillment

Walmart opened its first high-tech Market Fulfillment Center in Arkansas at Store 100 located at 406 S Walton Blvd in Bentonville on Monday, underlining the retailer’s strategic move toward expanding the use of its stores as fulfillment centers to enhance the shopping experience for customers everywhere.

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(Photo: Business Wire)

The Market Fulfillment Center (MFC) is built within the store and is powered by a proprietary storage and retrieval system – named Alphabot. Walmart believes fulfillment through digitization and connecting its store and supply chain assets end to end will transform fulfillment. And along with it, customer satisfaction and associate opportunity.

“This new order fulfillment system is truly game changing,” said Ryan Simpson, the store manager at Store 100. “Not only does it enhance the customer experience through quicker, more accurate online order fulfillment, it also provides us the runway to continue growing our business now and in the future.”

Customers can expect to see the benefits of the MFC almost immediately.

Market fulfillment centers will significantly increase the number of orders the store is able to fulfill in a day, promising faster fulfillment with lower substitutions. Walmart+ members have even more to look forward to with free unlimited delivery. It also improves the in-store shopping experience by freeing up associates to help customers shopping in-store.

In addition to improving the customer and member experience, associates will also notice benefits from the new MFC.

Associates can expect more time to focus on what’s important, including serving customers and supporting each other. In addition, working with the Alphabot system presents new leadership jobs in stores, like the newly created MFC Lead, and opportunities to learn and teach new tech-forward skills.

“I love the MFC. The dedicated space allows us to concentrate on picking items for our online customers,” said Gilbert Giron, an MFC digital team lead at Walmart. “I feel confident that the items our associates are looking for are going to be there when a customer wants them. That makes me feel good, because I know our team is providing our customers with great service."

At the foundation of the new MFC is Walmart’s strategic use of technology to transform its stores, making the shopping experience better for customers. It also opens door to newly created ladders of opportunity that make Walmart a place where good jobs can turn into great careers.