Walmart encourages customers to order online

Walmart India, which operates in the cash-and-carry format, on Monday said it is encouraging its members to buy online to avoid rush on the streets amid rise of coronavirus cases in the country.

The company is witnessing an increase in the number of orders placed through its website and app and have added more capacity to serve them, said Walmart India in a statement.

However, Walmart, like other retailers, is also facing challenges in getting sufficient supplies of the goods due to production shortages from the manufacturers and continued bottleneck in logistics and transportation due to lockdown.

It is working closely with its suppliers and with the local authorities to minimise and address these challenges, it added.

Besides, the company is also facing challenges in terms of shortage of manpower to operate a store.

"To minimise traffic on streets and in our stores, we are encouraging our members to place orders on our e-commerce platform and have the products delivered to them.

"We are seeing an increased number of orders through e-commerce and have added more capacity to serve orders placed on the best price website and app," said Walmart India Spokesperson.

Walmart India has also added additional delivery partners to manage the increased delivery volumes though there are limited number of passes for delivery vehicles, it added.

"Some other challenges include the shortage of associates to operate our stores to meet the current demand and the limited number of passes available for delivery vehicles," it added.

Walmart India owns and operates 28 best price wholesale stores and 2 fulfilment centres in India.

Currently, India is going through the lockdown, ending on April 14, to prevent the spread of the virus. The authorities have permitted retail of essential items only during this period by the companies.

"We are working actively with government authorities to ensure we get sufficient passes for our associates and for our vehicles to safely deliver the essential products to our members. We are committed to serving our members and the community at this time," it added.

Moreover, to ensure the safety at its stores, Walmart India has taken several steps to ensure safety at stores, which include provision of masks and sanitisers, temperature checks and enforcing social distancing.

According to the latest report from the Union health ministry, the total number of COVID-19 cases has increased to 4,067 and the death toll is now at 109.