Volt Systems, a digital firm that offers suppliers more on-demand access to merchandising resources, is being acquired by Walmart.
Walmart appears to be primarily interested in Volt’s Engage technology, which allows and streamlines vendor relationship management through access and visibility.
“Engage is a partner relationship management platform that qualifies, engages, and connects retailers with their vendor partners to enhance performance,” Walmart said in the press statement announcing the purchase. With the help of the application, suppliers can plan, predict, and improve their product selection using up-to-date store-level data, actionable analytics, and shelf intelligence.
“As a consequence, customers enjoy a more frictionless omni-shopping experience with the less out-of-stock hassle. The agreement confirms Walmart’s ongoing commitment to innovation and technology, which helps us better predict consumer demand. We are fully purchasing Volt Systems, which includes the business, personnel, equipment, and client contracts.
Walmart is mentioned as a customer on Volt’s website, which also offers a use case that was ostensibly taken from its acquirer. In this instance, the large retailer has acquired one of its suppliers.
According to Volt’s website, “Like the majority of retailers, a big national retailer was using a paper logbook at the front of the shop for vendor reps to check in and out for each visit, offering minimal visibility to the activity taking place in their stores.” In order to obtain insight into the thousands of vendor visits that occur at their stores every day and to enable digital certification and security badging for all vendor-provided visit activities, they adopted the Engage platform in 2017.
In order to promote more efficient and secure execution through a single central application, the Engage solution has grown over time to give suppliers access to the retailer’s systems and information.
This is an illustration of how digitization may increase the efficiency of operations, including the automation of antiquated, manual paper-based processes, and enhance the flow of commerce. The badging-and-tracking tool also improves shop security.
Additionally, the technology improves suppliers’ understanding of Walmart’s inventory requirements, promoting effective and efficient trade flows. Thus, the acquisition’s main goal is to increase supply chain dynamics’ transparency by doing so. These dynamics frequently result in delays that hinder the retailer’s omnichannel plan.
