Walmart (read this guide) Shelf Labels to Light Up for Shoppers
CNBC reports that Walmart shelf labels will soon light up to guide shoppers. Shoppers can use the Walmart app to make a digital price tag flash, and store staff have similar tools for stocking and online order fulfillment.
Features and Rollout
- Feature Name: Shop to Light
- Rollout: Moving from a pilot to a wide rollout
- Usage: Customers have already used it to flash labels 5 million times since its introduction this summer.
- Tools for Staff:
- Pick to Light: Helps staff find items for online orders.
- Stock to Light: Shows staff where new stock is placed.
- Implementation: Every store is expected to have these tools by the holiday season.
Technical Details
Walmart states that these tools utilize a small light already built into each label, collecting no customer data and having no cameras or microphones.
Impact and Concerns
Walmart introduced these labels to enable real-time price changes across the chain. This has raised concerns about dynamic pricing, but CEO John Furner ruled out personalized pricing in a recent open letter.
“Your income, shopping history, urgency or what we think you could pay won’t change the price,” he wrote.
New Jersey has frozen new digital labels for a year, but Walmart claims all its stores in the state already have them.
Walmart's AI Strategy
The introduction of these labels aligns with Walmart's broader bet on AI, as more Americans turn to AI to shop.
“It’s not one or the other anymore. It’s both,” said Greg Cathey, Walmart’s senior vice president of digital transformation.