Walmart to shutter its tech incubator Store No. 8

Walmart is closing down its Store No. 8 tech incubator with around 300 people in the unit moving to other jobs with the retailer’s technology and innovations operations, according to published reports.

Scott Eckert, who led Store No. 8 since 2019, is leaving the company. Walmart did not respond to Talk Business & Politics’ request for more details about the closing of the division.

Store No. 8 was created in 2017 by Marc Lore, then the CEO of Walmart e-commerce. The closing of the business unit was announced by Walmart CFO John David Rainey in an internal memo sent Jan. 19, and first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Much of the Store No. 8 operations was based in Bentonville developing and testing technology used in store operations and elsewhere. The business unit focused on health and wellness, sustainability and the circular economy, social commerce and the creator economy, the metaverse, customer experience and loyalty, and and decentralized commerce, according to its website.

Store No. 8 is credited with developing the technology in Walmart’s in-home delivery service, text and voice commerce, and virtual reality and augmented reality applications the retailer has used internally within its operations.

The business unit notes on its website it was created to provide time and space to incubate startups that would enable the company to stay ahead of customers and market trends. The business also acquired Israeli startup Aspectiva in February 2019. The Aspectiva technology uses machine learning techniques and natural language processing capabilities that helped Walmart launch generative AI applications for back-of-the-house operations.

Store No. 8 is going the way of all of Lore’s other business ventures inside Walmart. Lore left his full-time job at Walmart in January. 2021, but stayed on through September so as not to jeopardize the $150 million bonus pay he was to receive at the end of five years.

One of Store No. 8’s first endeavors was the now-defunct Jet Black social text shopping app and concierge service in Manhattan. In addition to the closing of Store No. 8, Walmart has also closed other Lore ventures and acquisitions including Jet.com, ModCloth, Bare Necessities, ShoeBuy, Moosejaw and Bonobos.