Walmart Inks Deal With Salesforce to Sell its Tech to Other Retailers

Walmart wants to sell more of its technology and services to other companies. On Thursday, it announced a deal with Salesforce to ramp up sales of its GoLocal delivery service, which drops off purchases at customers’ doors; and Store Assist, which helps employees more quickly and accurately pick and pack orders for curbside pickup and delivery. Starting this spring, the services will be offered through Salesforce and listed in its app store for businesses.

Total Retail's Take: As retailers face an uncertain economic environment and a potential downturn in consumer spending, many are looking to add non-traditional revenue sources to their businesses, including launching retail media networks (RMNs) and licensing in-house technologies, such as the case with Walmart and its GoLocal and Store Assist services. Furthermore, Walmart is taking a similar approach of its chief rival, Amazon.com, which has licensed its cashier-less checkout technology, Just Walk Out, among other technology solutions. Diversifying revenue streams is a prudent move for Walmart given its historical reliance on brick-and-mortar store revenues, which may slow with a recession looming.