Could Digital Shelf Labels Be Coming To Walmart Locations In Minnesota?
New technology could be coming to your local Walmart soon. The company made the announcement about big changes coming by 2026.
Electronic Shelf Labels
Price stickers have been used by retailers forever, but some have started to switch over to electronic shelf labels. This will allow retailers to change the prices of products as fast as every 10 seconds.
Read More: Minnesota Zoo Says Goodbye To 'Zoo Icon'
NPR reported that Walmart is following other retailers like Whole Foods who already use electronic shelf labels. They are also used more commonly in Europe.
Walmart said in their announcement that this will help both the consumers and their associates. Workers won't have to take the time to remove labels on items and change them, which could take days. Now, it can be done with the click of a button.
The barcodes also found on the labels can help consumers. They can scan them with their mobile device and find more information on the product.
Walmart will expand electronic shelf labels to 2300 stores by 2026.
There are 4,717 Walmart locations in the United States. Walmart plans to roll out the digital changes to 2,300 more stores in less than 2 years. That's nearly half of the Walmarts in the country.
Changes should lead to faster order picking and fulfillment.
The digital shelf labels will allow the "Pick To Light" feature for team members to fill online orders. It will guide them directly to the product, speeding up the process and improving order accuracy.
Testing was done in Grapevine, Texas
Walmart did the pilot test at store 266 in Grapevine Texas. They say it made them faster and improved the customer experience.