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Charleston Business

Walmart Plans $45 Million Investment In South Carolina In 2019

Building on its commitment to save customers time and money in new ways, Walmart expects to spend an estimated $45 million this year in South Carolina through the remodeling of eight stores, as well as the launch and continued expansion of several customer-focused innovations.

“2019 is going to be an exciting year for Walmart in South Carolina as we continue to focus on how to better serve our customers through innovation and investments so they can save both time and money,” said Sean Real, Walmart’s regional general manager for South Carolina. “We are continuing our commitment to improving our store experience in South Carolina through store remodels, while also expanding our technology and innovative offerings that makes shopping faster and more convenient. Our team is energized and we’re looking forward to exceeding our customers’ expectations for what a great Walmart shopping experience can be like.”

2019 Walmart Remodels in South Carolina

Walmart plans to remodel stores in the following locations:
  • 2751 Beaver Run Blvd., Surfside Beach
  • 1310 N Fraser St., Georgetown
  • 805 Hwy 9 Bypass West, Lancaster
  • 2151 E Main St., Spartanburg
  • 3951 W Ashley Circle, Charleston
  • 14055 E Wade Hampton Blvd., Greer
  • 1180 Dutch Fork Rd., Irmo
  • 9 Benton Rd., Travelers Rest
2019 Walmart Innovations in South Carolina

Walmart will continue to innovate to help customers save time and money by creating a seamless shopping experience that gives them the options to shop when, where and how they want. The following are examples of the customer-focused innovations that will be expanded this year in South Carolina.

(1) Grocery Pickup
Busy customers love Walmart’s grocery pickup option. It gives them the convenience of shopping online and the ease of quickly picking up groceries without having to leave their cars. The best part: it’s all at no additional cost. Walmart plans to expand the popular program to 20 stores across the state by the end of the year.

The company also recently introduced Walmart Voice Order, which allows customers to simply say “Hey Google, talk to Walmart” and the Google Assistant will add items directly to their Walmart Grocery cart.

(2) Grocery Delivery
Walmart’s convenient grocery delivery service is also proving to be a hit with customers. This year, Walmart plans to add the service to more than 20 stores, increasing its coverage area in the state.

(3) Walmart Pickup Towers

Walmart Pickup Towers are 16-feet tall, high-tech vending machines capable of fulfilling a customer’s online order in less than a minute once they arrive at the store. It’s easy to do – once the order is ready, step up to the Pickup Tower and scan the barcode sent to your smartphone to retrieve your item. This year, Walmart plans to add 18 Pickup Towers to stores across the state.

(4) FAST Unloader
Today, product is unloaded as it arrives at the store through a complex, highly manual process that has seen little innovation over the last 50 years – until now. A new system in Walmart backrooms - known as FAST- automatically scans and sorts items that come off trucks based on priority and department, allowing associates to spend less time unloading in the backroom and more time on the sales floor with customers. This year, Walmart plans to expand the technology to 27 stores across the state.

(5) Autonomous Floor Scrubber

The autonomous floor scrubber uses assisted autonomy technology to perform the task of cleaning and scrubbing the concrete floors in stores. The company plans to expand the technology to 47 stores across the state this year.