Walmart is to start selling its technology and logistics capabilities to smaller retailers as it seeks out fresh revenue streams in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement overnight, the US giant said it had partnered with software provider Adobe to offer other retailer’s access to its cloud-based services to “offer customers seamless pickup and delivery to customers”. 

Small and medium-sized retailers will also be able to add their products to Walmart’s online marketplace more easily, and tap into the giant’s fulfilment network which offers online delivery to customers anywhere in the US within two days. 

“We’ve built new capabilities to serve the evolving needs of our customers, and we have the unique opportunity to use our experience to help other businesses do the same,” said Walmart US chief executive officer John Furner. “Commercialising our technology and capabilities helps us sustainably reinvest back into our customer value proposition.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen Walmart sales and profits soar due to its essential retailer designation, and the latest strategic announcement is a direct attempt to take on Amazon and its profit engine AWS. 

While the pandemic has accelerated US retailers offering ecommerce services like click and collect, Adobe estimates the scale of the opportunity for retail giants like Walmart and Amazon in third party tech sales could be as much as $44bn.

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