Shoppers who click the “buy” button on Walmart’s (NYSE:WMT) website and pick up items curbside will soon spot a difference: new packaging.
The nation’s largest retailer will roll out changes to eliminate waste across its business, it said Thursday. Walmart will swap plastic mailers for paper ones that can be recycled curbside.
It will add made-to-fit technology in about half of its fulfillment centers, so each shipped box uses less material and more boxes can fit on each truckload. And by the end of the year, customers at all of its stores will be able to choose to skip plastic bags when retrieving curbside pickup orders.
Walmart wants to reduce packaging as online sales become a bigger part of its business. Digital transactions now make up about 13% of total annual sales for Walmart in the U.S. The moves can also appeal to customers who care about the environment, or have grown tired of discarded boxes and plastic bags piling up at their homes.
For a retailer with a reach as staggering as Walmart’s, a change can quickly add up. The company’s switch to paper mailers is expected to eliminate more than 2,000 tons of plastic from circulation in the U.S. by the end of January.
Other retailers are trying to cut down on packaging and cater to customers who care about sustainability, too. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has also used more made-to-fit packaging after investing two years ago in CMC, a company that makes the packaging machine.
WMT shares shed 55 cents to $146.32.
