Retail giant Walmart has taken a proactive approach to combating supply chain issues by renting a pop-up yard near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to bolster its cargo flow and increase the amount of incoming goods available for customers, according to a Wednesday (Dec. 1) report from Freight Waves.
Walmart representatives, along with officials from Best Buy, Food Lion, Mattel, CVS Health and Etsy, shared with President Joe Biden on Monday (Nov. 29) how their companies are working to combat supply chain issues, particularly during the holiday shopping season, according to the report.
The company began leasing the space about a month ago and has been using it to process more than 500 containers per day, as well as to hold loaded and empty containers, Walmart’s Executive Vice President of Supply Chain Operations Joe Metzger said in a social media post.
Leading up to the onset of the holiday shopping season, Walmart had announced that it had hired 200,000 new employees – including 50,000 additional supply chain staff – to overcome any fulfillment-related obstacles, as PYMNTS reported.
The company’s inventory jumped by 11.5% in the third quarter, which executives had said was indicative of the retailer’s preparedness for a strong holiday season.
See also: Walmart Adds Workers, Touts In-Stock Affordable Items for Holiday Shopping
Despite reports over the last few months about supply chain bottlenecks and mass shortages of goods leading up to the holidays, most consumers were undeterred, according to a recent PYMNTS survey. Of those polled, 61% said they did not rise early to land Black Friday specials for fear of missing out or that the goods sought would not be available later.
Related news: The Top 5 Things We Learned About the US Shopper From Black Friday
Like Walmart, Amazon has taken steps to alleviate potential supply chain snags. Last month, the eCommerce giant, after having a “record-breaking” Black Friday, announced that it had nearly doubled the number of its fulfillment centers to expedite the shipment of goods.
See also: Amazon Doubles Fulfillment Network to Fast-Track Holiday Delivery
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