Walmart might be a favorite way to invest in automation, partly due to its Symbotek stake, but automation faces delays from energy bills more than tripling and older buildings, which he sees as the biggest concern, while Amazon has an edge.

But we really got a shot here, because the Wall Street Journal published a great article over the weekend about Walmart and some of the challenges it faces in implementing automation for various reasons, such as the complexities of moving from lifting a box full of diapers to a box containing a 70-inch television.

A television inside, weight differences, and all those challenges they face.

Yes, I mean, honestly I didn't need a story in the Wall Street Journal to tell me that Amazon has an edge in automation. Not only did they buy Kiva early, as Lowe said, but they also designed many of their buildings specifically to accommodate automation, while, as you said, Walmart is trying to modernize older buildings from the 1980s and 1990s, which also have to keep working during construction.

For me, the biggest concern here is really the energy aspect. One of the points made in the Wall Street Journal article I mentioned is that when Walmart automates one of its warehouses, its electricity bills more than triple what they were before the automation.

The infrastructure for data centers and warehouse automation relies on the same power grid. Therefore, in my opinion, this may be the biggest factor causing the delay , and not just the capital expenditure, because for retailers who really need this to succeed, this will be their capital priority.

For many of them, it's a matter of energy infrastructure .

Walmart might actually be one of my favorite ways to invest in the automation direction if I had to name a stock; Well, it's probably worth mentioning that Walmart has a fairly large stake in Symbotek.

So, there is a rather nice synergy with that company.