Walmart opened a new hybrid Seiyu store in Tokyo, Japan. It is designed to address the demands of omnichannel shopping. This is Walmart’s first-ever hybrid Seiyu store. The format was specifically designed to satisfy the digital and physical shopping needs of Japanese customers.
The store is a mix of a traditional convenience grocery store on the first floor, and an online grocery warehouse (dark store) on the second floor.
The store is uniquely positioned to cater to the masses. By having dedicated inventories for e-commerce they can meet more online orders, even for a store with a small footprint.
In addition, it maximises inventory turnovers as the store can pick from online inventories on the second floor, whilst also being able to select some items – such as produce and meat – from the physical store.
With Tokyo having a high population density along with a growing demand for online grocery shopping, this is a smart response to addressing shoppers growing desire to save time.
This is another example of Walmart’s commitment to developing new and better ways to meet the changing needs of customers.
