Walmart has opened a new kind of store called “dark stores” that regular customers can’t visit. These dark stores are built to fill online orders fast, sometimes in under three hours. They look like normal Walmarts inside, but no one shops there.
Instead, staff pick and pack items for delivery. Located in busy areas, these spaces are helping Walmart keep up with Amazon’s fast shipping. It’s a big shift. This poilot test could change how we shop and how quickly things arrive at your door.
What Is a Dark Store—and Why You Can’t Shop There
A dark store looks like any other Walmart inside. It’s stocked with popular items and full of shelves, but customers aren’t allowed in. There are no checkout lines or customer service desks. Instead, employees with tablets move through the aisles picking products for online orders.
Think of them as smaller, local mini-warehouses meant to get your orders ready fast. Because they’re closer to customers than big distribution centers, dark stores help Walmart deliver more orders in less time and with fewer delays. Walmart is currently piloting this model in Dallas and plans to test another in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Why Walmart Is Doubling Down on Dark Stores
Walmart tried dark stores during the pandemic but shut them down after lockdowns ended. Now they’re back, and the reason is clear: customers want fast delivery, and regular stores can’t always keep up. Walmart aims to reach 95% of Americans with three-hour delivery by the end of 2025.
Early this year, orders delivered in under three hours jumped 91%, creating new pressure on store systems. Dark stores solve that problem. With fewer obstacles, staff can pack orders faster. Plus, Walmart’s e-commerce business just hit 21% growth in Q1, giving it the momentum to expand this model fast.
Inside Walmart’s First Dark Store in Dallas
Walmart’s Dallas dark store doesn’t look different from the outside, and there’s no signage to tip you off. Inside, it resembles a typical Walmart layout. High-demand items are placed up front, while slow sellers are in the back. Staff use smart software to map the quickest route through aisles, saving time on every order.
This location also tests new technologies and strategies that might later roll out to regular stores. If Dallas performs well, it could become Walmart’s blueprint for how to build faster, smarter, and more local delivery operations nationwide.
Walmart Brings Its Dark Store Model Home to Bentonville
Walmart is planning another dark store in Bentonville, Arkansas, near its company headquarters. This site will let top executives see the model up close and use it for hands-on testing and staff training. The Bentonville location will build on what worked in Dallas: smarter layouts, better inventory systems, and faster workflows.
Industry experts say this second store will show how serious Walmart is about the dark store concept. It’s also a key move in Walmart’s rivalry with Amazon. In a region where both brands are battling for speed, Bentonville could be the next step toward faster delivery nationwide.
How Dark Stores Fit into Walmart’s Delivery Plans
Dark stores are just one part of Walmart’s bigger plan to speed up delivery. They work with drones, smart maps, and robotic warehouses. Walmart now uses a system that breaks areas into small hexagon-shaped zones. This helps multiple stores work together to fill one order quickly.
This year only, that system added 12 million homes to same-day delivery. Walmart’s drones now deliver from 100 stores in five states. Dark stores are ideal for bigger or multiple-item orders, and help balance the load across its delivery network. It’s a system designed to get orders out faster, no matter where or how you shop.
Amazon’s Early Lead in the Race for Speed
Amazon started using dark stores during the 2020 pandemic and has built hundreds of fulfillment centers since. In 2023, Amazon delivered 4.8 billion packages same-day or next-day. Walmart hit 4.4 billion. But Walmart has one big advantage: more than 4,600 stores across the country. That puts it within 10 miles of 90% of Americans. These nearby locations let Walmart fulfill orders quicker and cheaper.
Now both companies are pushing for faster delivery. Amazon is expanding into rural areas, while Walmart is upgrading local store systems and adding dark stores. The competition is heating up, and customers are the winners.
How You Benefit from a Store You’ll Never Visit
You may never see a dark store, but you’ll feel its impact. These stores make it possible to get your order in under three hours, especially for popular items that are always in stock. Because they’re built for efficiency, dark stores also help cut delivery costs.
In fact, Walmart’s delivery routes have become almost 40% more cost-effective. If you pay for faster shipping, your package may come from one of these dark stores. And even if you choose regular shipping, dark stores ease pressure on the whole system, meaning better accuracy and fewer delays for everyone.
Does This Mean the End of Physical Stores? Not Quite
Dark stores are getting attention, but physical shopping is still strong. Forrester says that by 2028, 76% of global retail sales will still happen in stores. Walmart isn’t giving up on its retail locations. Instead, it’s blending formats: some stores are for shopping, some for pickup, and others, like dark stores, for shipping.
Gen Z still values in-person shopping too, 69% of people aged 18 to 24 visit stores weekly. The future likely means fewer but smarter stores, built for speed, convenience, and experience. Dark stores are part of that shift, helping Walmart serve shoppers in more flexible ways.
Why Walmart’s Dark Store Push Is a Big Deal
Walmart’s move to reopen dark stores shows how much the retail game has changed. With its online business finally profitable and fast delivery becoming standard, the company sees dark stores as a key to staying ahead. The idea is simple: place fulfillment centers closer to where people live.
If the test stores in Dallas and Bentonville do well, more cities could see similar setups. This could shift retail from being about shopping locations to being about smart logistics. Walmart isn’t just racing Amazon. It’s trying to set a new pace for retail speed and convenience across the country.