US retail giant Walmart is giving shop employees the option to deliver parcels when they are on their way home, provided the delivery addresses are on the employee's route. In this way, Walmart hopes to reduce last-mile costs.
This is initially a test in two Walmart stores in New Jersey and one in Arkansas. Since then, several hundred parcels have been delivered by employees. Walmart describes the move as a very logical one, as 90 per cent of Americans live near a Walmart store. Moreover, trucks are already driving daily between fulfilment centres and shops, for online orders to be picked up in-store, and the same trucks can also be loaded with online orders to be delivered to homes. In this case, the shop acts as a logistics hub and the shop employee takes care of the last mile.
Employees can use a mobile app to sign up for parcels to be delivered on their route. There is a daily maximum of 10 parcels. The new service is optional for employees. When insufficient employees are willing to transport a parcel, the retailer still calls on carriers such as UPS and FedEx.
According to Walmart, one of the largest private employers in the US, employees are paid for the time they spend on delivery. It is unclear how much they earn from this and whether they are paid per parcel, per kilometre or for the time they spend on it.
Walmart's new service offers employees an extra penny, but also raises questions among labour experts. Speaking to the Washington Post, Stephanie Luce, labour professor at the City University of New York, says: "With this way of working, abuse lurks, for example if Walmart does not compensate workers for the full costs they incur on their delivery route. These include fuel costs, car depreciation and potential problems such as accidents, fines or parking fees. As with other new 'flexible jobs', this job may provide opportunities for the employee, but in reality the employer benefits the most from this non-committal way of working."
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