Well aware of the storm clouds brewing on the macroeconomic horizon, Walmart is doubling down on its supply chain-led transformation into an omnichannel retailer with an integrated, flexible and intelligent distribution and fulfillment network…

Walmart management believes there are (at least) two big ways that supply chain investments can address the overall business environment. First, for Walmart, supply chain has always been a place of experimentation, where small investments that have proven to generate operating leverage can then be scaled. Second, e-commerce is the fastest part of Walmart’s business — growing 17% y/y in the fourth quarter — and connecting all of its inventory and rationalizing its network helps power that growth.

But connecting all of its available products to an e-commerce application and building intelligent fulfillment for hundreds of thousands of SKUs wasn’t easy. In his supply chain-focused Investment Community meeting presentation, Walmart U.S. CEO and President John Furner explained the evolution of the company’s supply chains.