Walmart Is Turning Its Employees Into Delivery Drivers To Compete With Amazon (qz.com)

Walmart, which is aggressively investing in e-commerce to better compete with Amazon, is unveiling a new strategy: turning its army of 1.5 million US employees into delivery drivers. From a report: The tactic is being tested at three stores in New Jersey and Arkansas, and designed to shave costs out of the "last mile" of distribution, the most expensive part of getting goods to customers. Under the initiative, store employees will be given the option to deliver packages on their way home after work, in exchange for extra pay. They'll be given an app that allows them to input their routes, and an algorithm will plot the most efficient path. To take part, the employees will have to pass a background and vehicle check.

Comments

Or...

[clonehappy]

Wal-Mart could just hire a miniumum-wage delivery driver for each store and have deliveries all day long. If every pizza and Chinese restaurant can do it, so can Wal-Mart.

Flexibility

[bondsbw]

Curious if the employee has the flexibility to sign up for (or to reject) deliveries after each shift, and how much flexibility they have in time and direction.

When I am not going home after the shift, I shouldn't have to go out of my to deliver a package to my neighbor.

Employee puts app on their 'phone ...

[Alain Williams]

other than their route home, what else will that app monitor about the employee. "Mr Smith we notice that you did not leave the bar until 23.30 last night ... please report to room 101 for an alcohol test"

This should work out well...

[hyades1]

Given Walmart's legendary addiction to corporate welfare, you can bet this program won't be genuinely voluntary for long. Ways will be found to "encourage" employees to participate that have nothing to do with the few bucks they'll throw at them for using their personal vehicle for commercial purposes.

And given what I've seen of Walmart employees who are virtually out on their feet by the end of a shift, it would probably be safer to hold a "Drunk Drivers 6000" through residential neighbourhoods than to have them looking for some random house after working a 12-hour split shift broken up over 18 hours.