Hello Friend! Let‘s Explore Walmart Labs – The Tech Powering Walmart‘s Future

As a regular Walmart shopper, have you ever wondered what makes your shopping so fast and convenient? The secret lies in Walmart Labs – the technology arm that is transforming the retail giant into a tech-driven omnichannel leader.

In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore Walmart Labs together:

• What exactly is Walmart Labs and how do they help Walmart?

• Fascinating history – from Kosmix to Jet.com to Flipkart

• Key innovations powering the future of retail

• Organizational structure and teams

• Locations around the world

• Exciting technology careers

• How you can get a job at Walmart Labs

Let‘s get started, fellow shopper!

What is Walmart Labs?

Walmart Labs is the technology and product development arm within Walmart that is driving digital transformation across the company.

Their mission is to build cutting-edge technology to create seamless shopping experiences for you and I, Walmart‘s customers.

Walmart Labs leverages latest technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, robotics and more to solve complex retail challenges.

They build innovative products and services across ecommerce, stores, supply chain, payments, merchandising and more.

Some examples of popular innovations from Walmart Labs:

• Walmart app with Mobile Checkout
• Pickup and Delivery services
• Alphabot robots that pick online grocery orders
• Virtual reality training for associates
• Computer vision for stockouts, damage detection
• Machine learning for pricing and forecasting

Fun fact: Walmart Labs has over 5,500 technology experts working on reinventing the future of retail.

Now that you know what Walmart Labs does, let‘s quickly look at how it came to be.

The Evolution of Walmart Labs

Walmart‘s focus on leveraging emerging technology started in 2011 when it spent $300 million to acquire Kosmix.

Kosmix founders Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman rebranded it to @WalmartLabs and spearheaded digital transformation.

Over the last decade, Walmart Labs grew rapidly by acquiring startups:

• 2013: Acquired Inkiru for predictive analytics

• 2016: Purchased Jet.com for $3.3 billion. Jet founder Marc Lore took over Walmart ecommerce.

• 2018: Acquired Flipkart, India‘s largest online retailer, for $16 billion.

Through these acquisitions, Walmart Labs gained thousands of technologists and access to new tech, catapulting Walmart‘s tech capabilities.

Now, let‘s look at some of the coolest innovations coming out of Walmart Labs.

Key Innovations from Walmart Labs

Walmart Labs has produced technology innovations that span across stores, ecommerce, supply chain and more.

Here are some examples of impactful inventions from Walmart Labs powering the future of retail:

Revamped Walmart.com

Walmart Labs rebuilt Walmart.com from scratch on a new cloud architecture that enables faster feature development.

Fun Fact: Walmart.com sees over 120 million visitors every month now.

Walmart App

The popular Walmart app provides conveniences like:

• Mobile checkout in stores
• Voice search for finding products
• Indoor maps with exact aisle locations

The app has over 100 million monthly active users – more than apps of most other retailers!

Store No 8 Incubator

Store No 8 is Walmart‘s tech incubator for disruptive innovation in areas like drones, VR, blockchain and autonomous vehicles.

For example, Store No 8 is testing delivery drones that can transport orders weighing up to 5 pounds in under 30 minutes. Exciting stuff!

Alphabot

Alphabot is an autonomous robot that can pick and pack online grocery orders rapidly to help Walmart scale up delivery.

These robots can pick orders 10x faster than humans enabling faster deliveries. Initially deployed in New Hampshire and Arkansas.

Computer Vision

Walmart Labs uses AI-powered cameras for:

• Shelf analytics to detect stockouts
• Finding product damage
• Assisting checkout-free shopping

And many other applications leveraging computer vision.

EDLP Machine Learning

To dynamically detect Every Day Low Price (EDLP) violations, Walmart Labs data scientists built custom ML algorithms.

This allows Walmart to maintain its EDLP promise automatically across massive inventory.

As you can see, Walmart Labs has transformed retail tech across stores, supply chain, pricing and more.

Next, let‘s look at how Walmart Labs compares vs Amazon and Target.

How Does Walmart Labs Compare to Amazon and Target?

	Walmart Labs	Amazon	Target
Tech Employees	5,500+ tech associates	Over 20,000	2,500
Tech Spending	$15 billion over 5 years	$35 billion in 2021	Increased technology spending by 50% in 2021 to $2.5 billion
AI / ML	Custom forecasting & pricing algorithms	Recommendation algorithms	Piloting computer vision in stores
Computer Vision	500K cameras in stores with multiple uses	Amazon Go cashier-less tech	Considering adding to mobile app
Autonomous Tech	Drones for delivery Alphabot robots	Amazon Scout delivery robots Warehouse robots	No significant developments

Among the big retailers, Walmart Labs has more technologists than Target but less than Amazon. But Walmart has accelerated investments and acquisitions in technology to catch up.

For example, Walmart is testing drone delivery and already has 500K AI-powered cameras in stores. This puts their tech capabilities ahead of Target.

However, Amazon remains the leader in leveraging emerging technology at scale. But Walmart is certainly putting up a fight!

Next, let‘s take a quick look at how Walmart Labs is helping Walmart compete with Amazon.

How Walmart Labs Helps Walmart Compete with Amazon

Amazon has led in retail technology innovation for years. But Walmart Labs is helping Walmart catch up and remain competitive:

• Online Grocery Pickup – Walmart Labs built industry-first grocery pickup capabilities and scaled it to over 3,000 stores, ahead of Amazon.
• Computer Vision – Walmart‘s 500K cameras monitor shelves and flag issues instantly vs. Amazon‘s slower manual shelf scans.
• Alphabot – Walmart‘s grocery picking robots can help it scale up online delivery faster than Amazon.
• Indian eCommerce – Acquiring Flipkart has given Walmart a strong foothold against Amazon in high-growth India.

Additionally, initiatives by Walmart‘s Store No 8 like delivery drones put innovative future tech directly in the hands of customers before Amazon.

While Amazon still leads in technology overall, Walmart Labs‘ efforts are helping Walmart gain ground quickly through impactful inventions.

Next, let‘s look at the different teams that comprise Walmart Labs.

Organizational Structure of Walmart Labs

Walmart Labs has over 20 specialized teams focused on different aspects of retail technology. Here are some key teams:

Customer Technology Team

Focuses on building an integrated shopping experience across stores, website, app, voice and more.

Key projects include next-gen Walmart.com, Alphabot robots, VR training, computer vision in stores and more.

Supply Chain Technology Team

Leverages technology to make Walmart‘s massive supply chain faster and more efficient.

Builds platforms for inventory management, forecasting, delivery tracking, automation in distribution centers and more.

Fintech Team

Creates financial products and services for customers like Walmart Pay, Walmart MoneyCard, cash pickup, credit options and more.

Makes banking accessible to the unbanked.

Store No 8 Emerging Tech Team

Walmart‘s incubation lab that invents disruptive innovations in areas like drones, blockchain, AI, VR, autonomy and quantum computing.

Testing mind-blowing tech like autonomous cars, delivery drones, AI-powered stores, space delivery that will shape the future.

As you can see, Walmart Labs teams are reinventing every aspect of retail for the digital age.

Next, let‘s look at their major office locations around the world.

Where are Walmart Labs Offices Located?

Walmart Labs has major engineering centers in Sunnyvale, California and Bangalore, India along with smaller satellite offices:

Sunnyvale, California

Main HQ with 5,000+ employees. Focuses on store tech, customer experience, supply chain innovations. Fun perks like free food!

Bangalore, India

2,400+ employees. Builds cutting edge tech in AI, ML, blockchain, fintech, data science.

Bentonville, Arkansas

Satellite office close to Walmart HQ. Works on store and supply chain tech.

Tel Aviv, Israel

House Store No 8‘s incubation arm Lumi Labs Israel that invents forward-looking tech.

In addition, there are smaller Walmart Labs offices in Tokyo, Shanghai, Sao Paolo, Toronto, Singapore and other tech hubs globally.

Excited to work on cutting-edge retail technology alongside the best and brightest minds? Let‘s look at some of the technology careers available.

Technology Careers at Walmart Labs

Here are some of the most exciting technology roles open at Walmart Labs currently:

Software Engineering

Build large-scale distributed systems, mobile apps, platforms, services. Impact over 100 million customers!

Data Science / Machine Learning

Leverage Walmart‘s massive data to build forecasting, personalized pricing, inventory optimization, demand prediction algorithms and other impactful ML applications.

Emerging Tech

Work on bleeding edge tech like autonomous vehicles, VR, space delivery, blockchain and more with Store No 8. Opportunity to shape the future of retail.

UX/Design

Reimagine omnichannel retail user experiences across web, mobile, stores, voice platforms.

Product Management

Strategize and deliver complex tech products. Interface with customers and executives.

Cloud Engineering

Design and optimize Walmart‘s distributed cloud architecture as it scales globally. Route over 10 million orders a day seamlessly.

The work environment provides ample opportunities for learning, conferences, publishing papers and more.

The most exciting part is seeing your work impact over 100 million Walmart shoppers!

Next, let‘s look at how you can land an exciting technology role at Walmart Labs.

How to Get Hired at Walmart Labs

If you are interested in joining Walmart Labs‘ mission to shape the future of retail, here are some tips:

• Study up on data structures, algorithms, databases and other technical skills. The hiring bar is high.

• Understand Walmart’s key business and technology priorities. Show passion for their mission.

• Highlight experience building large scale distributed systems or data products. Impact matters.

• Apply online through the Walmart Careers portal or find recruiters on LinkedIn.

• Attend Walmart Labs info sessions and tech talks on emerging tech trends. Ask insightful questions.

• Meet Walmart Labs employees at conferences and build connections. Referrals can help.

• Interviewers look for customer obsession, bias for action and comfort working cross-functionally.

• Showcase both technical depth and ability to collaborate towards big goals.

With your skills and drive, I‘m sure you will be able to land your dream role!

The best way is to network with current associates who are always happy to talk tech.

Conclusion

Through our exploration, it‘s clear Walmart Labs is transforming retail at an unprecedented pace and scale.

Leveraging bleeding edge advancements in AI, robotics, blockchain and more, Walmart Labs empowers millions of customers with seamless shopping experiences.

In just over a decade, it has established itself as a world-class technology powerhouse within Walmart.

The opportunity to work on tech that transforms the lives of millions, while learning from the best minds, is unparalleled.

So if you are a technologist passionate about building the future of retail, Walmart Labs is the place to be!

I hope this guide gave you a helpful insider‘s view into Walmart Labs. Let me know if you have any other questions!