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  1. Business
  2. Retail

Walmart's New Strategies: Teaming up With Uber and Getting Drones

By:
Ethan Wolff-Mann
2 min read
A cashier scans school supplies for a customer at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Thursday, August 6, 2015. More U.S. parents are planning to increase back-to-school spending this fall than at any time in at least the past four years, according to a survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping enters. - Bloomberg via Getty Images
A cashier scans school supplies for a customer at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Thursday, August 6, 2015. More U.S. parents are planning to increase back-to-school spending this fall than at any time in at least the past four years, according to a survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping enters. Bloomberg via Getty Images

Walmart's very un-secret weapon has always been scale. As the largest retail corporation, it could not only slash prices considerably, but create its own term for it—"roll-back."

The runaway success that made the Walton family one of the richest in the world has been curbed slightly by the internet's dominance, as Walmart has been forced to grow up a bit to compete with Amazon for online shoppers.

Now, much like a newly minted teen, Walmart is downloading Uber and getting a drone hobby.

Wal-Mart is now partnering with ridesharing services Uber and Lyft to deliver groceries to online shoppers—something that rival Amazon does, Reuters reports. The last-mile logistics project will be tested in Denver and Phoenix, beginning in a few weeks and cost $7 to $10 for the delivery.

Unlike Amazon's drone projects, Walmart's mini-helicopters won't be delivering and annoying the general public with hums and UFO concerns. The company will be using the drones to fly around in its massive 1.2 million square foot distribution center in Arkansas and take videos of the warehouse shelves, CNBC reports. Computers can then analyze the video and determine if things are where they should be. According to CNBC, this practice, coupled with other logistical improvements like reorganizing its truck routes, could save the company a significant amount of money—enough to pass it on to consumers and hit their goal of having the lowest prices.

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