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July 17, 2024
Should Walmart Return to 24/7 Operations?
Walmart pulled back from being open round-the-clock, seven days a week at most stores during the pandemic and for now has no plans to return.
Social media posts in recent months indicated Walmart would resume 24-hour operations across the U.S., but Joe Pennington, Walmart Press Office director, told Reuters, “There are no current plans to return our stores to 24 hours of operations.” He added that the posts were false.
On March 14, 2020, the company reduced hours at Walmart stores and Neighborhood Markets to be open 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. to “help ensure associates can clean and stock products.” On June 5, 2021, those hours expanded to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. as the number of vaccinated Americans grew.
However, despite global and U.S. agencies declaring an end to the COVID-19 emergency in May 2023, Walmart hours haven’t returned to 24/7.
In 2015, Walmart reduced hours at about 40 supercenters from 24/7 coverage in a pilot that some felt would lead to a nationwide pullback of hours. Bloomberg at the time indicated that the move was partly made to improve late-night restocking amid complaints over out-of-stocks as well as to save money.
An ABC News article in 2011 noticing a similar shift at some Walmart locations noted how 24-hour openings helped brand Walmart as a place for convenience. Richard Feinberg, a Purdue University retail professor, told ABC News at the time, “Even if it is not cost-effective for those overnight hours, it builds loyalty, which feeds the profitability of the other hours.”
Among its closest competitors, Target doesn’t have any 24-hour stores, with most locations closing at 10 or 11 p.m. Costco opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 8:30 p.m. at most locations.
Many other stores have reduced round-the-clock operations in recent years.
Hy-Vee in February 2020, just prior to the pandemic’s arrival, reduced its store hours from round-the-clock with most now closing at 10 or 11 p.m. H-E-B hasn’t returned to 24-hours at locations since the start of the pandemic, while Kroger and Meijer have reduced 24-hour locations in recent years.
A kcentv.com article indicated that labor shortage was another factor making it difficult to fill night shifts in recent years.
Walgreens and CVS have also reportedly reduced their 24-hour stores amid financial struggles, although many urban locations remain open continuously. QuickChek, Wawa, 7-Eleven, and several other C-stores never moved away from 24-hour coverage.
Many social media posts and some articles have lamented about the inconvenience caused by the reduction in 24-hour stores, particularly for those not working regular hours.
“It’s tough for people who work off shifts and overnights,” Corin Dively, an Olyphant, New York, resident, told the Scranton Times-Tribune. “They can’t run out after work if they need to grab things or shop on their night off when they’d be awake anyway.”
Many also like shopping in the quieter hours. One said in a Reddit post, “OK, so I’m a night owl, and I really like shopping late at night if I can. It’s way less crowded for sure — and it makes it a quicker, less stressful experience for me.”
Discussion Questions
Do you see more benefits or drawbacks from Walmart bringing back 24-hour openings?
What factors should be most important in determining whether to stay open round-the-clock?
What about the off-hour worker shoppers and others who would be inconvenienced?
Poll
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This really needs to be driven by demand and looked at on a location-by-location basis. There are some Walmart stores where 24-hour opening isn’t profitable because the demand simply isn’t there. There are others were longer opening hours are justified. A lot of this is governed by population density, and there is a lot of variance because Walmart has stores in more rural areas through to suburban and urban areas. The other consideration is the security needed to ensure associates are safe – and feel safe – working around the clock; this was previously an issue at some stores and needs to be a key factor in any decision.
There are two views here; one is the strictly business-focused question of whether/not it’s profitable to be open at 3:30 in the morning (I’m guessing it’s not, expect maybe in rare situations where some factory runs round-the-clock and that brings in business). The other is the broader, societal question of whether/not any business should be open at that hour: remember when your mother – or more likely your grandmother – said “decent people aren’t up at that hour”?…well, she was often right. Perhaps hopelessly old-fashioned and admittedly lacking much data, but I’m still partial to encouraging people to go to bed at night.
Second-shift and third-shift workers, restaurant people, truckers, healthcare people, airport people would all have a problem with that. Huge % of the population that the rest of us depend on to keep society running smoothly is on a different clock and can’t just order goods online for delivery. Many Walmart locations have stocking & cleaning staff working during those hours anyway – might as well try to make some revenue (in locations where traffic justifies of course.)
Thanks Scott; you’re probably correct that I was underestimating the number of people who make use of late-night hours, but I think we’re really talking about a rather narrow window of (closing) time here…maybe 12-5AM. For many, many years most stores were only open “normal business hours” – typically 8 – 10 AM to 5-7 PM, and the world functioned, altho , of course hours became more flexible as the percentage of the population that worked increased and were unable to access such a limited time frame.
If Walmart needs a differentiator where competition is tight, then a return to 24/7 could give them the edge. But it needs to be profitable, and that’s likely not the case where there’s not a lot customer density to support that kind of move. Profitability wins every time.
This is surely an instance where Walmart should be guided by the numbers.
In a few local geographies there may be a sufficient number of shoppers who prefer to patronize the stores after midnight. Third-shift workers come to mind. But operating hours from 6:00 AM to midnight provide convenient access to all but a tiny subset of customers.
I don’t really buy the argument that 24/7 operating hours sends much of a “message” about the benign intent of a retailer. If the mission is to always deliver the lowest possible prices, isn’t it better to spend a little less on operating the stores during non-productive hours?
I’m pretty confident that Walmart and most other modern operators are capable of doing the necessary math.
Most of us have gotten used to the shorter shopping hours implemented during Covid. I’m with Neil: If there is a local reason to keep a store open 24/7 then do it. The numbers will show if makes sense.
We are immersed in a flood of “fake news” on social media, including the rumor that 24/7 Walmart stores will be reopening soon.
I will assure you, as one who works closely with Walmart, that Walmart does not intend to return to 24/7 operations at this time.
In contrast, the trend is the opposite. There has been a decrease in the number of hours that stores are open since the pandemic and beyond, but this trend is not associated with Covid.
Having enough employees for the daytime hours is difficult enough, but having enough employees for the overnight hours is likely impossible.
The second issue is crime. Defunded and disempowered law enforcement are a problem in many urban and suburban cities, making it easier for gang theft and other crimes to occur. Due to a reduction in law enforcement levels, shoplifting has also become easier, but even more so overnight.
Therefore, overnight store openings are an unprofitable scenario. Thank goodness for C-stores, but even some convenience stores are closing after 10 p.m. because they have the same problems that Walmart and other retailers have.
Until more employees are available, and until law enforcement is staffed up again, and empowered again, the 24/7 era is over. Db
The decision for Walmart to return to 24/7 operations should be based on the specific demand and operational benefits for each store. While overnight restocking and deliveries can improve efficiency, 24/7 operations are often not profitable, especially in rural areas with low late-night traffic. Instead, Walmart might gain more by investing in other areas like enhancing customer service, improving online shopping experiences, and upgrading in-store technology
There may be adequate demand for 24-hour Walmart stores in limited locations. However, the stores are so large, the costs of operating them in off-hours with limited demand is hard to justify. It seems the more appropriate move would be to simply extend hours – either open a bit earlier and/or close later. Most of the population can find time to shop in a 14-16 hour period, or has gotten used to other shopping/delivery options.
Let’s not make this more complicated than it has to be. This is a business decision that should be made area by area.
WM is smart enough (I believe) to open 24/7 in areas with a demographic of a lot of late night shoppers. The core issue is whether or not providing that convenience for people who are up and about at 3 in the morning is profitable is another matter altogether.
My guess is being open at 3AM is a money loser. But that is speculative.
A decision about 24-hour openings depends on the marketplace and the crime rate in that marketplace. Was there more crime in the off hours? If so, there is no reason to go back to 24-hour operation.
Do customers want 24/7 stores? If so, it will most likely vary from one store to the next. Regardless, even if customers want 24/7, Walmart knows to test and test. A number of years ago, they listened to customers suggesting they modernize their stores. They built out a couple of experimental stores with different floorplans, lighting, etc. The result was a lot of compliments but not an increase in sales.
There may be no significant pros or cons on either side of this aisle. To that end, Walmart can continue its course on limiting 24hr operations with minimal impact.
There will always be a few shoppers to run into a store if it’s open around the clock but what is the overall cost benefit of those sales. While I agree with Dr Feinberg that there may be opportunity to build loyalty, I question at what scale.
Further, Walmart has made concerted efforts to expand their ecommerce business and online marketplace. Is it not possible for over night shoppers to place an online order and pickup the next morning (or, stay in their pajamas and have the order delivered)?
Moving beyond Walmart, drug stores generally maintain 24/7 operations as well as some last mile delivery services like 7Now and DoorDash.
The ultimate decision has to be about in-store associate wellbeing. Retail is a difficult environment and not always a safe one. If giving back these few hours uplifts employee moral, improves store operations and still meets demand of the majority of shoppers, then this has to be the right decision for Walmart.
In this labor market, and in places where crime rates are shifting and the demand does not warrant overnight hours, I don’t see any of these stores adjusting course anytime soon.
The convenience of 24/7 brick & mortar has been replaced by the endless aisle of e-commerce in many categories. It’s not surprising to see Walmart hold back on returning to 24/7 stores. Labor issues aside, there are security and operational efficiency concerns. No doubt this decision has been based on demographic data by region and financial analysis of the marginal gains of running such large operations which has a much higher thresholder versus c-stores that have traditionally served this need. As stated in the article, urban locations continue to open 24/7 as presumably that’s where most of the demand for late night shoppers exist but that’s not where the majority of Walmart shoppers live.
Do we really need to shop 24/7? When we don’t have 24/7 options what do we do instead? Spend more time with family and friends?
In terms of off-hour workers, stores are still open late. Much later than in other countries. And on weekends too. Part of the reason we’re often so stressed is that we live in an ‘always on’ culture. While I do enjoy shopping at less crowded ‘off peak’ times, I don’t believe that 24 shopping necessary to have that option available. It’s also not a good use of energy to have large stores open when traffic is super low. Let the smaller convenience stores serve that market.
The decision regarding whether Walmart should reinstate 24/7 operations hinges on the potential business lost during non-working hours. If Walmart doesn’t return to 24/7 operations, it implies that the lost sales during those hours don’t justify the extra operational costs. However, it’s crucial to consider that 24/7 availability can strengthen customer loyalty and market share. For a powerhouse like Walmart, ensuring round-the-clock accessibility could lead to increased profitability and long-term customer satisfaction.
While 24-hour operations provide convenience for off-hour workers and night owls, the costs and challenges, such as staffing and security, are significant. Walmart should consider factors like customer demand, labor availability, and safety when deciding on store hours.
Walmart could try extended hours or specific days with round-the-clock service to cater to those who need it, ensuring that they balance customer convenience with operational efficiency.
However, given the current labor shortage and the shift towards more efficient stocking and cleaning during closed hours, it may not be practical to return to 24-hour operations.
If Walmart’s numbers aren’t driving a return to 24/7 hours then it’s likely that holistically the demand for such hours isn’t there. While there’s certainly off-hour workers, such as emergency personnel, medical professionals, etc. to consider, the numbers need to support the cause for re-evaluating store hours. Any future decisions should be made at the store level based on the marketplaces where the demand is high enough to justify keeping the lights on 24/7.