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Walmart melding online and in-store shopping

South Red Deer Walmart recently underwent six months of renovations
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The recent renovation of Red Deer’s south Walmart is part of a country-wide project to sync the in-store and online shopping experience.

Over six months, the Red Deer store’s interior was reconfigured to create wider aisles, signage was improved, self checkouts upgraded, the grocery expanded and a new online grocery pickup created on the west side of the store facing Taylor Drive.

“We’ve kind of modernized our stores to create more of a seamless omni-channel shopping experience for the customer,” said store manager Lee Myers.

“Basically, what that is is we’re allowing customers to shop the way they want to shop,” he said. “We have a different assortment within the store and modernized the shopping experience within the building.

“But we’re also offering them the ability to shop online and to complete their shopping in that method if they choose.”

Walmart sees online shopping as more of an opportunity than a challenge.

“I think we’re just incorporating it into our business rather than looking at it as a challenge,” said Myer. “Walmart is adapting to the needs of the customer.

“If they choose to shop online, they can swing by the store and there’s a special pickup door at the side of the building to allow them a quicker transaction and experience,” he said.

Customers can’t miss the new feature, which is on a side of the building now painted a bright orange.

Red Deer’s store upgrades are part of a $175-million investment in 23 stores across the country, including opening a new Supercentre in Burnaby, B.C., featuring a large East Asian ethnic food section.

Three Newfoundland stores were also converted to the Supercentre format, which includes a grocery, a concept that has now been brought to every province.

In Alberta, Walmarts in Olds and Okotoks and the Edmonton Capilano store are getting renovated at a total cost of $5 million to $10 million.

In Red Deer, the grocery section improvements include expansions to dairy and ethnic food selections. Ethnic food offerings were designed to reflect the makeup of the community.

“We’ve tailored our assortment to the Red Deer customer,” said Myers.

The changes have gone over well with customers, he said, adding he had positive reviews on the wider aisles and expanded ethnic food selection.



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