The Canadian unit of retail giant, Walmart, has developed a blockchain solution to track deliveries, verify transactions and automate payments. The unit has carriers that deliver inventory to over 400 retail stores across the country annually.

According to the announcement on Thursday, this blockchain-based solution was built in an association with blockchain firm, DLT labs.

This solution which is expected to go live by 1st February 2020 will be accessible through web and mobile apps. It will be available to all Walmart Canada’s third-party carriers.

It synchronizes and aggregates all the supply chain and logistics data on a shared ledger between Walmart Canada and its carriers. The ultimate goal is to improve operations and reduce costs.

According to John Bayliss, senior vice president of logistics and supply chain, the company’s carrier partners move over 5,000 loads of inventory nationally, creating an extraordinary volume of transaction data. He believes automating this data collection and management using blockchain will result in a significant cost reduction.

Walmart has been working on a series of blockchain development across its subsidiaries. In June, its China branch developed a blockchain to track products such as meat, rice, mushroom etc. The solution provides information about the product such as its origin, inspection record, logistics process, and many others.

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