SHENZHEN, May 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In order for customers to enjoy Walmart's quality products and services anytime and anywhere, Walmart announced the launch of its hypermarket O2O platform "Walmart To Go" in Shenzhen yesterday. The platform consists of the newly launched "Walmart" mobile shopping APP, "To Go Service Center" in stores for self pick up and multiple online & offline e-payment options. Walmart will pilot "Walmart To Go" in Shenzhen (except Yantian and Dapeng) and provide quality E-Commerce experience to customers with its network of 23 stores. "Walmart To Go" will be adjusted and upgraded according to customers' feedbacks and gradually expand its service nationwide.
By searching for key word "Walmart" in both iOS and Android APP stores, customers can easily download "Walmart" APP onto their phones. Currently the APP offers more than 10,000 items, with 1000 fresh/dairy/frozen SKUs as well as products covering grocery, health and beauty products and household chemicals. More items sold in physical stores will be added to the APP gradually. "Walmart To Go" is aimed to provide quality shopping experience to customers. From ordering on the APP, picking products from the shelf, to home delivery or in store self-pick-up, customers will experience a thoughtful service by Walmart dedicated teams.
President and CEO of Walmart China, Sean Clarke, spoke at the "Walmart To Go" launch ceremony. "Walmart To Go" is an important milestone as it is an enhancement and extension to our brick and mortar business. We are uniquely positioned to integrate physical and digital retail seamlessly. Walmart wants to be a real O2O company. We will continue to innovate both online and offline to meet the changing demands of our customers, and will be the most trusted omni-channel retailer in China."
To provide the best delivery services to Chinese consumers, Walmart leveraged its experience in the US, UK, and other comparably more matured E-Commerce markets. Every physical store acts as an independent customer service and operation center with a dedicated team of Walmart staff responsible for APP orders. These trained specialists will cover the order preparation process from product picking, packaging, to delivering or handing the products to customers in store. For fresh foods that require a certain storage temperature, the Walmart delivery team will use special insulated bags to guarantee the same off-the-shelf freshness a customer expects in a Walmart store.
Meanwhile, Walmart works with professional logistics company to build dedicated delivery team only responsible for Walmart orders, and each delivery van has a vivid "Walmart To Go" logo on it. If customers choose home-delivery services and complete an order before 11 am, the products can be delivered on the same day. Delivery fee will be free of charge if the purchase is over 188 RMB. Customers can also decide to pick up their order in any store they want. The assigned store will prepare the items within about 4 hours according to customer preference of the pick-up time. After customers receive the reminder message on their mobile phone, they could go to the "To Go Center" to pick up the order by order number. For example, a working mother, who lives in Nanshan but works in Futian, can decide what to have for dinner at noon and place her order on the APP. After work, she can pick up her order from a store near her house and bring the food home to prepare for dinner. It is worry free and time saving for customers demanding for convenience.
Products sold on the APP are the same as the ones sold in physical stores. This guarantees that the products are from authentic sourcing channel, passed Walmart's stringent and comprehensive quality control standards and procedures. APP users also enjoy the same price and after sales services as in physical stores. For instance, APP users can bring the products purchased online with the delivery note to any Walmart store for refund, and their money will be returned to their payment account. Walmart's 100% Worry Free Fresh Guarantee also applies on APP. If APP users are not satisfied with the fresh products they bought, they could refund within 14 days of purchase.
Walmart's worry-free shopping experience manifests not only in convenient ordering and quality services, but also in payment flexibility. Currently customers can pay with Union Pay, Alipay and E gift cards on Walmart APP. Walmart physical stores will also have special e-payment checkouts to accept Alipay and other mobile payment methods. Walmart will add more e-payments in the stores and on the APP in the future to provide more prompt, efficient, and convenient payment services.
