Walmart is testing changes to the carts employees use to fill online orders, after one struck a child customer inside a store earlier this year. The company is sending new wheels to store locations and updating its guidance for how workers move those carts, according to people familiar with the internal moves.
How badly the child was hurt is unknown. Walmart has seen carts hitting other shoppers before, and it has been testing ways to make the carts easier to move and easier to see around.
The carts, known as pick carts, are heavy-duty rolling racks with plastic containers that employees use to collect items for digital orders. Other retailers use similar equipment, and Walmart's procedures for handling them have changed before.
A Walmart spokesperson said, "Safety is a top priority," and added that the company listens to feedback and adjusts policies when needed. The new guidance is the latest change to Walmart's pick-cart procedures.
Retailers have leaned heavily on stores to fulfill online purchases, and Walmart is a prime example. A majority of Walmart's same-day deliveries come from its stores, while customers collect about one-third of online orders themselves.
Physical stores also give Walmart an advantage on speed. About 90% of the US population lives within 10 miles of a Walmart store, which helps digital orders reach doorsteps fast.
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That speed is a big reason online sales have become a major growth area. Walmart's US online sales have climbed more than 20% each quarter for nine consecutive quarters.
Faster fulfillment matters more as customers pay more for convenience. To keep up, retailers have added back-room space for assembling online orders and created roles for employees or independent contractors to collect items from store shelves.
All that extra activity makes some stores busier, and busier aisles mean more chances for an accident. It also means the equipment used to handle online orders has to share space with shoppers.
Walmart previously switched them from six containers to eight, but the larger setup made it harder for employees to see, so the company cut capacity back to six.
Walmart is telling employees to pull the carts when visibility is poor and push them when they have a clear view.
The pull directive has not been universally popular. Some employees have raised concerns about injuries from pulling, and those concerns led to talks with OSHA, the US workplace safety agency.
OSHA did not immediately comment. Pulling a heavy cart can strain a worker's body, while pushing one can block what is ahead.
Walmart has to balance two different safety risks at the same time.
Online shopping is not going to slow down, and Walmart's stores sit close to a huge share of American homes. Same-day delivery is a big part of the sales growth, which means the carts and the way workers use them will stay central to the business.
The changes are worth watching for anyone who owns Walmart stock or depends on Walmart for daily basics. Safety fixes can slow down order picking, and they can add costs, but ignoring a visible hazard carries its own risk.
For shoppers, the payoff is a store that is safer for everyone, including a child walking past a cart. For investors, the question is how Walmart balances speed with safety.
These are small adjustments to a massive operation, but they show how the push for convenience is changing the store experience.
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