Best Buy is expanding and upgrading its distribution center footprint to drive improved order accuracy and faster shipping, according to a company announcement.
This fall, the electronics retailer began implementing autonomous guided vehicles in a retail distribution center in Nichols, New York, and opened its 20th delivery distribution center in Lancaster, Texas.
Best Buy’s Nichols retail distribution center is now equipped with 20 automated forklifts, per the announcement. The vehicles can handle roughly half of inbound pallets from delivery trucks. The forklifts are also able to operate in narrower aisles, further optimizing available capacity.
“Our Nichols facility needed additional storage and throughput capabilities that this technology was able to help address for them,” a spokesperson said.
Additionally, the automated forklifts allow for expanded operating hours while improving accuracy and reducing damage from product handling, the announcement says. The company will evaluate the performance of the new technology before implementing in other facilities.
“We’re always looking at our fulfillment facilities and whether there are things we can do or capabilities we can implement to create a better experience for our customers,” the spokesperson said. “We’ll use the learnings and outcomes from this initial implementation to inform future decisions.”
Meanwhile, the 800,000-square-foot Lancaster delivery distribution center is Best Buy’s second such site in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“The DFW market continues to grow so by adding another facility, we’re able to serve our customers more efficiently and effectively,” a Best Buy spokesperson said in an email.
Delivery distribution centers assist Best Buy in shipping goods to customer homes and allows the electronics retailer to offer a wider range of options for next-day delivery, per the announcement.
The Lancaster facility enables faster shipping by refilling inventory for stores and supporting deliveries to customers in the region, according to the spokesperson.
Improving the delivery experience has been a priority for Best Buy this year. The electronics retailer began providing AI-powered tracking of deliveries in August. It also launched a new parcel delivery scheduling service in several U.S. markets.
