Selecting the Product Assortment for a New Walmart Fulfillment Center

You are a product manager at Walmart, and the company is building a new fulfillment center. Decide which products it should stock, and explain how you would reach that decision. ```hint Think about the whole network This building does not have to carry everything sold online. Ask which items gain the most from sitting close to the customers it will serve, and which are better shipped from somewhere else. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is the building meant for ship-to-home online orders, for grocery pickup and delivery, or both, and will it have refrigerated and frozen space? - Which region will it serve, and is the main goal faster delivery there, extra capacity for an overloaded part of the network, or lower shipping cost? - Should it hold only inventory Walmart buys itself, or also stock that marketplace sellers send in for Walmart to fulfill? - Am I deciding which categories and items go in, or also how many units of each to hold? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A goal for the building, tied to its role in the network, set before any product list - Explicit placement criteria such as regional demand, sensitivity to delivery speed, shipping cost, items bought together, and storage or handling limits - A tiered assortment, from deep stock of fast-moving essentials to a long tail left to other buildings, stores or sellers - The data behind the choice, and a plan to adjust it in a region with little order history - Success metrics such as local fulfillment rate and in-stock rate, with guardrails for aged inventory and cost per unit ### Follow-up Questions - How would your list change if the site were a small automated facility attached to a store and focused on grocery orders? - Demand is uncertain in the first months. How would you size the opening inventory and decide what to add or drop after a quarter? - How much space would you give to marketplace sellers' inventory, and what would make you change that share?