Walmart Inc. may be the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer, but it has a long way to go to catch up with Amazon when it comes to e-commerce.
That is not stopping the retail behemoth from trying.
Over the last five years, Walmart has invested millions of dollars in developing six giant server farms, each larger than 10 football fields. The centers allow Walmart to have its own internal cloud server where it can store and process customer data, rather than renting computer capacity space.
The investment is paying off, Reuters reports. Walmart's online sales growth has outpaced the industry for the last three quarters.
The company is imitating Amazon’s use of cloud-powered big data to drive sales.
Thanks to these steps, Walmart is staying competitive with Amazon on pricing and inventory, allowing it to target shoppers with customized offers and improved services.
Walmart Head of Cloud Operations Tim Kimmet told Reuters the company is using cloud data to stock frequently ordered items via voice-shopping devices such as Google Home.
The network is improving Walmart’s retail store operations as well, allowing it to adjust prices at its stores instantly across regions.
Walmart still has a long way to go. It holds 3.6% of the U.S. e-commerce market compared to Amazon’s 43.5%, according to the digital research firm eMarketer.
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