Walmart announced the opening of its fifth next-generation fulfillment center in Stockton, California. The facility, spread across 900,000 square feet, will increase Walmart’s storage capacity and allow it to fulfill more orders across California and the West Coast, according to the retailer.

Walmart ranks No. 2 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 Database, which tracks North America’s largest online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales.

Walmart is also No. 37 in Digital Commerce 360’s AI Commerce Rankings. That set of rankings is available in the Top 1000 Pro with AI Database.

What distinguishes Walmart’s new fulfillment center in Stockton

The centerpiece of Walmart’s Stockton fulfillment center is its automated, high-density storage and retrieval system that brings products directly to associates rather than requiring workers to travel the facility floor. That reduces an otherwise 12-step fulfilment process to just five steps, leaving more time for workers to focus on higher-value tasks, Walmart said.

Walmart now processes more than half of its ecommerce fulfillment volume through automated facilities, according to figures the company shared with investors along with Walmart online sales updates in its fiscal Q2 earnings results. 3,100 of Walmart’s U.S. stores also use automated freight to some capacity. 

Combined with Walmart’s broader fulfillment network, the company says its next-generation fulfillment centers now enable it to reach 95% of the U.S. population with next- or two-day shipping.

“We’re bringing together associates with advanced technology and automation to create a safer, more efficient operation that can fulfill more orders and get products to customers faster,” said Karisa Sprague, senior vice president in fulfillment operations at Walmart U.S. in a written statement. “This facility is an important investment in the Central Valley and a critical part of how we’re building the next generation of Walmart’s fulfillment network across the West Coast.”

Fast delivery’s importance for Walmart

Delivery speed has been central to Walmart’s ecommerce plan in recent quarters.

Walmart U.S. online sales grew 26% in Q1, with delivery speed cited as “a key catalyst for growth around the world” by Rainey. Walmart can now reach about 60% of the U.S. population through delivery in 30 minutes or less, a capability it has expanded to 38 U.S. markets.

Meanwhile, store-fulfilled delivery has more than doubled over the past two years, with more than 36% of those orders delivered in under three hours. 

“Speed matters, and we have a significant competitive advantage,” Walmart CEO and president John Furner told investors in August.

How Walmart Fulfillment Services will use the center

Importantly, the Stockton facility is not only for Walmart’s first-party ecommerce business. 

Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), the company’s end-to-end third-party fulfillment offering for marketplace sellers, will also use the space to fulfill orders for merchants selling on Walmart.com. That makes the opening directly relevant for the growing base of brands and distributors selling through the Walmart Marketplace.

Units shipped same day or next day through WFS grew nearly 150% in fiscal Q1, according to John David Rainey, chief financial officer at Walmart.

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