Walmart is outfitting one of its stores with SymMicro, a compact fulfillment system from automation company Symbotic built to speed up how online orders are assembled for pickup and delivery, Retail Dive reports. Installation has begun at a first store whose location the companies are not disclosing, though Symbotic chief executive Richard Cohen said it "will become obvious pretty soon." The system is expected to come to life in roughly six months, with a second site to follow shortly after.
SymMicro puts automation in the back of the store. Autonomous mobile robots called SymBots retrieve storage totes and deliver them to pick stations, where operators can assemble multiple orders simultaneously at rates of up to 550 picks per hour per station. Handling e-commerce orders behind the scenes also cuts down on the foot traffic that order-picking otherwise generates in store aisles.
Cohen said the first installation is deliberately overbuilt to make sure it works, with future versions to be redesigned smaller and more cost-efficient as the rollout scales. The deployment sits within a much larger agreement: Walmart has committed to purchasing 400 of the automated systems, with the retailer funding the build-out of pickup and delivery centers in the backs of its stores.
Executives on both sides framed the project in expansive terms. Walmart senior vice president Greg Cathey said the technology would elevate customer service and rapidly advance the retailer's in-store Accelerated Pickup and Delivery operations, while a Symbotic vice president described back-of-store automation as a scalable growth engine for the company.
Massachusetts-based Symbotic has supplied warehouse automation to Walmart for years, notably in the retailer's regional distribution centers, and deepened the relationship in 2025 by acquiring Walmart's advanced systems and robotics business. The company, which went public in 2022, is led by Cohen, the longtime chief executive of grocery distributor C&S Wholesale Grocers.
