Walmart has invested over $ 11 billion in technology last year, the retailer revealed at NRF 2019, which took place in New York this week. This makes it the third largest spender in the world after Amazon and Alphabet.
He is also trying to hire 2,000 technology experts this year to support his omnichannel efforts. The world's largest retailer is looking for industry scientists, software engineers and designers working in nine offices from Silicon Valley to Bangalore, says Walmart's technology chief Jeremy King. The group that King currently leads has about 7,500 employees after taking 1,700 last year.
King is, in some way not surprisingly, flooded with ideas from others. Every day receives a tone on the blockchain. But any initiative, he insists, must include a conversation on the scale. Most do not create solutions for a Fortune 1 company.
"I always talk to people," This is a great idea, "he comments. "& # 39; Now, how do you resize it to 5,000 stores? & # 39;"
Supply chains
The Blockchain tracking this year will be nice to have, need to have, and Walmart will be a key player, according to ConsenSys' Andrew Keys. "Vigilant buyers will ask for transparency about where food, clothes and products come from," he says in a post medium.
"Today the supply chain process is opaque and often slow.In 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration registered dozens of recalls for foods potentially contaminated with Salmonella, Listeria, E. Coli and even glass particles. Luxury fashion brands use forced labor to produce the t-shirts and jeans we all buy and often engage in practices that are harmful to the environment. "
Certificates of blockchain attestations of origin and distribution of a product, such as the Trac platform of the diamond manufacturer DeBeers or Lane Crawford & # 39; s Luxarity, will become the industry standard for retail brands, he calculates.
"Platforms like Viant are at the forefront of this technology and allow consumers to know exactly what they're buying in. Even retail giants like Walmart have made great strides towards strengthening supply-based chains with tracking and tracking based on blockchain ".