WSJ: Walmart still struggles to automate warehouses

The Wall Street Journal published a report on October 10, 2026 on Walmart's decade-long difficulties and trial-and-error in automating its logistics with robots, according to zdnet.co.kr.

Walmart is installing newly designed small wheeled robots equipped with motion and obstacle detection sensors in more than ten warehouses. The company also redesigned its cardboard boxes to be about 3.8 cm lower and to require tape sealing so they suit automation equipment.

At a Walmart automated grocery warehouse in California, robotic arms failed to grip frozen turkeys, prompting the retailer to request reinforced packaging from suppliers. Monthly electricity costs at Walmart's automated grocery facilities can exceed 800,000 dollars in months with heavy heating and cooling demand.

Symbotic said the share of robots sent for repair during operations fell from 10% to 5% recently.

Ten years of setbacks

Walmart and Symbotic built an automated logistics system about ten years ago at a test warehouse in Brooksville, Florida, but struggled with automation and in 2019 the two companies completely demolished the facility and rebuilt the system from scratch. Walmart has invested over several billion dollars in automation for more than ten years, and about 80% of automation projects are retrofits because most of its supply chain buildings were built in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2023, Walmart acquired robot company Alert Innovation for 400 million dollars and sold it to Symbotic last year at a loss of 200 million dollars. Symbotic said on a recent earnings call that a practical in-store automation model is unlikely before 2028.