What: Looking back at how the pandemic has forced speeding up innovation.

Why it is important: It is now key to give customers the choice on how, when and where they want to be served.

John Furner discusses key milestones and learnings from his first year at the helm of Walmart U.S. and what’s in store for the future of shopping.

From his perspective, Walmart has been able of reinventing the way they serve customers in a much quicker way thanks to the pandemic, which has basically helped the company speed up innovation and transformation.

He recalls his experience serving Walmart in China from 2012 to 2015, and the fast change he has seen there in the consumers' habits with going from analogue to digital in only a couple of years, because they had built their entire ecosystem on mobile technology.

According to him, that illustrates how fast things can happen without the constraint of legacy infrastructure that we are trying to adapt as we move. Furner estimates that, in the U.S., Walmart has probably skipped 3 or 4 years adapting one channel using other channels to enable it.

Asked about what will change for the supply chain in the future, he forecasts that a dynamic supply chain with inventory flow in different directions, based on where the customer sits, and those which can do that creatively and effectively are going to be the winners.

Walmart’s forward-thinking test and learn corporate culture, its 100% client-centred approach and the pandemic effects are pushing the company fast forward into a fully omnichannel offer where the store remains central, as both a local distribution platform and a place for local customers to keep engaging with the brand. With their stores, network and local anchorage, department stores seem to have key assets to stay main players of their local business.

video: NRF Retail Leadership Series: John Furner, President and CEO, Walmart U.S.

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